how to grow food on a boat

[essie]

Hey, I am 3D student from Finland. I'm interested to know how people grows food on a boats. I am also interested to design some boat where is own little garden...
Do you grow your own food on a boat?
if you do, how?
Is there any problems?
Thanks a lot!

 

[LadyInBed]

Do you grow your own food on a boat? yes
if you do, how? I don't use anti-foul
Is there any problems? Boat goes slower.

• Anyone got any good recipes for Barnacles? Boiled, Fried, Sauteed.
• Ducks and Swans are attracted to the water line Algae, which makes them easier to capture!

PS: You need a large oven for a Swan unless you joint it first

 

[essie]

food

haha..
do you grow vegetables?


"Is there any problems? Boat goes slower."

slower?

 

[Oliveoyl]

Check out TCM's many transats re growing mint for mojitos!
In general, veggies don't like salt. Some success withe bean sprouts etc, but not exactly self-sufficient

 

[ninky]

i'd see many problems if it's a sailboat that actually goes sailing. you need to be able to stow stuff so it is safe in a sea way. can't see that happening with any sort of pot. maybe if you used the lockers to store plants somehow. but the weight of all the soil would be a major disadvantage.

 

[duncan99210]

We were given a basil and rosemary plants this year - they lasted about 4 weeks. Lived in the cockpit when we were anchored or moored and wedged in one of the sinks when moving. What killed them was the wake from a passing ferry which swamped the cockpit off Alcudia; they couldn't stand the salt water. Since then, only plant life has been that growing on the bottom of the boat and round the water line.

 

[Zagato]

You can grow most plants upside down so that the stems don't need supporting. Fill a bag with soil, put in a sort of washer with flexible inner points (i.e. cut out a round plastic disc and make cuts in it from the centre but not to the outside) the seedling could be then planted so that soil does not fall out and the cuts parts would move out as the plant grows! Watering would simply be done from a hole in the top.

You can buy kit like this to grow tomatoes at home although I have never seen one.

Mushrooms would of course be ideal but root crops as well as they do not have much foliage to support. You can buy a type of "gel" as a growing medium which would also be easier to contain.

 

[LadyInBed]

you need to be able to stow stuff so it is safe in a sea way. can't see that happening with any sort of pot.

Yeh Man, stowing the pot where the dogs can't find it has always caused brain ache

 

[mandlmaunder]

When we left the UK we had planter trays with herbs in, they lasted a long time as we moved them inside when we sailed.

The biggest disadvantage to having growing plants on the back of a sail boat is that the customs officials WILL come aboard and investigate wether we were on board or not.

Sort of put us off growing fresh herbs.

Have seen some folks growing upside down tomatoes but the things get big and heavy so not easy to move if you should decide to go sailing.

Mark

 

[Conachair]

Do you grow your own food on a boat?
if you do, how?

Never had much sucess with herbs but offshore bean sprouts are a real treat when the veg is gone. Mung beans work best for me, 4 days and they're ready to eat, heathy tasty fare indeed.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Hey, I am 3D student from Finland. I'm interested to know how people grows food on a boats. I am also interested to design some boat where is own little garden...
Do you grow your own food on a boat?
if you do, how?
Is there any problems?
Thanks a lot!

There is a book dedicated to growing food on a boat. The book is called "Sailing the Farm" by Ken Neumeyer.

I suppose it is out of print but there are quite a few used copies about. Try Amazon.

 

[KellysEye]

We grew Basil plants in pot from seed for six and a half years. Basil lived in the cockpit at anchor and in a sink on passage. Had no problems other than they get woody and you have to start again.

 

[V1701]

B & Q plastic window boxes hung from the guardwires are good for extreme angles of heel...

 

[Roaring Girl]

Herbs in the folding plastic square bowls sold by ortleib and held in by stuff (MOB rescue sling etc) behind the instruments under the spray hood do well for us, especially basil. Just remember to water them. They're sheltered from sea water by hood. (If a load of sea water gets under there, the herbs are the least of our worries.) Sprouted beans in boxes (sometimes, when we bother).

Both are fine and with careful arranging do not need constant pre-passage moving, which is a major inhibitor. I wouldn't want hanging veg growing in my cabin underway, though YMMV.

Sailing the Farm is a fascinating book, and we carry it. It is primarily about foraging - how to eat all sorts of different sorts of sea-vegetables etc - rather than actually cultivating food on board.

In the Golden Age they would take the livestock with them - chickens, pigs etc. But they did not attempt to grow vegetables which did cause lots of problems on the really long passages.

 

[Slow_boat]

I second mung beans. They do fine in the cabin. Mustard and cress are quick and easy, too. Particularly if you start them off every couple of days so they're ready every couple of days. I've seen a variety of fresh herbs under sprayhoods and I quite fancy having a hanging basket from stern arch or bimini (neither of which I have yet) Cherry tomatoes, maybe, even though I can't stand tomatoes.

I really fancy window boxes of flowers on the sides of a stern arch but maybe that's going a bit far and would be a waste of water.