GardenImages

GardenImages
Our gardens in many lights

mardi 28 mars 2017

Windowfarms closed their doors




My china pots windowfarm.
A few years ago, I wrote two articles on this blog about using a window to grow vegetables and herbs in a hydroponic vertical homemade system. And a gave you the links to the organisation who made this system public.

Sadly, in December 2016, all activities of the commercial entity designed as Windowfarms have been terminated. Their internet addresses windowfarms.com, windowfarms.org, and  mywindowfarm.org has been deactivated too, the last two being public domain. With this closure, it seems that the articles that I published on the windowfarms forum had been lost as well. But you can still consult the following sources of informations. 









My own articles on this blog :

Several links in English :
An article on Wikipedia explaining the organisation's evolution
A short article on WikiHow explaining how to build the system in 10 steps. 
On YouTube, Windowfarms' official channel is still open and their last video is from November 2013. It presents a very impressive system installed in the New York Museum of Natural History.
Their FaceBook page still exists, but their last publication is from March 2016. 
A web page has been opened by Canadian citizens who, after having participated in financing the Windowfarms commercial entreprise, claim that they have been ripped off.
There are still many Youtube videos on windowfarms, including a construction guide in two episodes, another guide, methodically designed, and a video presenting a very nice technical improvemement to push the water to the top of the system, the T joint.

A British forum has been opened very recently, with new members, around forty, up to now. Therefore, the information presented there is extremely limited for the time being. 

Watercress has a pungent taste, a delicious addition to salads !





Despite its closure, what is the Windowfarms' legacy ?

A few important things : the original idea of "farming" inside our homes, regardless of the weather, a simple, affordable technology, the philosophy of sharing instead of patenting, the preoccupation of the need for better quality food. And above all, a strong dose of inspiration !