Growing Your Money

Growing plants (both ornamental and edible varieties) in small spaces could be a very profitable business. I see miniature roses in nurseries as well as stores like Safeway selling for $4.00 or more. Jade plants grow abundantly in the city, yet I see them selling for $5.00 or more in tiny metal containers at places like Whole Foods.

With hydroponic gardening techniques, you could grow your own vegetables very efficiently in small spaces. Here is one such "low tech" design: Building a Floating Hydroponic Garden, and here is a recent article (7/3/08) from TreeHugger.com: High Density Vertical Growth (HDVG) Garden: by Valcent.

Some of the advantages of this kind of vertical farming, highlighted in the article:

- Produces approximately 20 times the normal production volume for field crops.
- Requires 5% of the normal water requirements for field crops.
- Can be built on non arable lands and close to major city markets.

Now imagine restaurants getting the freshest produce within the same building where they serve their customers. With transportation costs continuing to climb, it may become cheaper (not to mention healthier) to grow most of our produce within a few blocks of where we live or dine out. Chez Panisse has developed a business around only organically grown, locally supplied produce.