HNC
HUMAN NOURISHMENT CHAMBER
brought to you by Anthurium Arthur x AC Infinity
Do you want to become more sustainable and provide healthier food options for yourself and those you care about? I have converted one of my grow tents from a space showcasing ornamental plants to a Human Nourishment Chamber aka indoor, year-round garden.
Privilege acknowledged: As someone that grew up in tiny apartments I will not ignore the initial space requirements/investment this takes; and I am thankful that I am able to do this at all. That being said there are various size grow tents available and as I will showcase later this season even the 2’x4’ when planned properly would be able to produce lots of healthy food tucked away in a closet or corner of a room.
The gear:
The menu:
Prism kale
‘Black Magic’ kale
‘Dark Vader’ cauliflower
Peanut Butter fruit tree
Carolina Reaper pepper
Chili peppers
Artwork broccoli
Coming soon: dwarf citrus tree, heirloom tomatoes, weird neotropical fruits,
The next steps:
Transplanting all these starts to larger containers.
Going vertical: installing racks with light bars to produce a wider variety.
The end goal is to have this thing packed with edibles.
Possibly adding one more overhead light once more material is in the tent to ensure plenty of energy is provided for the plants to grow.
Why food matters so much:
The average hunter gatherers ie humans from 70k-10k years ago existed on a highly variable diet. This is bc well, nothing was domesticated, so forager-Arthur 15k years ago would’ve had no idea what was going to be on his menu that day. This Arthur would have required an internal catalog of when food stuffs would be available and have tailored his diet accordingly. This invariably meant a more conscious approach was needed when it came to dietary concerns. Today we just all determine what we like by the time we are 12 and eat those same 5 things with a few wild culinary experiences sprinkled in, okay maybe more than a few culinas bizarre for the “foodies”, but even the most adventurous eaters still mainly eat fancied up dishes comprised of the same set of ingredients. There are 3 major crops (corn, rice, and wheat) and just 30 species of plants that make of 95% of human caloric intake. This has far reaching implications for plants and humans. Not that my little grow tent is fixing such an issue for anyone other than my immediate family but growing one’s own diverse edible indoor garden is definitely a start.
As food price and quality metrics veer away from human well-being this Human Nourishment Chamber will be one way to get back on track. If you’re considering building one of these for yourself or just want to see how it goes please follow along on IG where I’ll be documenting this journey or check back here as I’ll be updating this blog as the HNC matures and evolves.