Food production in earthships is an integral feature, as the planter cells are essential to treat and evaporate grey water/black water.
Guiding concept is to have nothing go to waste.
Grey water planters[]
- Desirable to grow as much food as possible in grey water planter.
Want plants that don't mind getting their feet wet, as the water table is constant and not far down.
Want to put big plants next to small plants, e.g. fruit trees next to small plants. Want to undulate between trees and shrubs and ornamental plants.
Ornamental plants can help clean the air. Air in earthships in general is awesome/bad-ass good.
Don't want to grow all the same types of plants that are harvested, or else the grey water planter witll be without plants!! E.g. spider plants, mother-in-law are examples of plants that stay there the whole time.
Good to choose plants with different colors for aesthetics. Add some flowers for that extra wow factor.
Want to grow
- Ornamental plants
- Medicinal plants (e.g. aloe vera)
Inevitable will have pest bugs. Hence good to grow a plant that attracts pests.
Want to grow plants that would normally grow in the surrounding climate, as the earthship is still influenced by the seasons by where the earthship is.
For fruits that ripen and fall like rockmelon, can wrap them in a net when getting close to ripe, so they don't fall on the ground.
Some plants need to be manually pollinated, as there are unlikely to be bees, etc. in an earthship. That said, also good to plant lots of flowers to encourage honey bees.
Suspended growing buckets with poop in it and nuts for cheese cake[]
Benefits of using suspended buckets:
- The buckets act like a small hydroponics setup and thus good for plants that likes a neutral PH level.
- Increase food production.
- Can use in cramped spaces like an apartment.
Good plants to use in growing buckets:
- Fig tree
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
Vegetable grown in earthships[]
Vegetables need lots of water and lots of sun. Hence need to grow close the sun side of the glasshouse.