We in Eau Claire love our fresh, homegrown, local food. Our awesome farmer’s markets are always bustling with vendors and buyers of delicious produce. But, we do live in Wisconsin and, as such, are prone to insanely long winters … like this past one. Living in the heart of a city kind of limits your growing abilities, too. Luckily, some ingenious people have create a solution: It’s called a tower garden.

What exactly is a tower garden, you ask? It sounds like an apartment complex. Well, it actually is made for apartments and other areas where space is at a premium. It’s basically a vertical garden. The base is about the size of a large potted plant and has a tower in the center with little pockets to put the seedlings. You put water and a nutrient solution in the base which gets pumped up through the tower. The nutrient-rich water drips down over the roots, giving them all the goodness they need; you just need to supply a sunny spot for them to grow.

You can put a tower garden in a sunny corner of your house or apartment, on your patio, rooftop, or terrace. It’s great if you live downtown and have one of those tiny little balconies. My favorite thing is that you don’t have to weed the darn thing. There’s also no soil, so no need to worry about cleaning up a mess if your pet knocks it over. Plus, plants grow faster in it than in soil.

Not to mention you can plant nearly anything. You can grow fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuces, eggplants, cucumbers, strawberries, and melons for starters. Herbs like parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. You can even grow flowers like marigolds and morning glories.

You can find more info on tower gardens at TowerGardens.com or find DIY options to build your own!