Grow From Home: Local Company Offering Way For Pittsburghers To Grow Produce At Home
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - In an effort to practice social distancing and stop the spread of coronavirus, many people are limiting their trips to the grocery store.
However, a good way to limit trips to the grocery store is to grow your own fruits and veggies at home. It's also a good way to stay busy while staying at home.
Jodi Naschwarzwaelder and David Falconi were looking for a way to grow their own produce and herbs inside their condo.
"I thought it was great because you're ensuring that you're going to have fresh herbs and things like that for cooking, you know, right in your kitchen," David said.
Their solution was to purchase an Aerogrower, which they say is like a garden in a box.
"All of the plants are in here, we have some that are actually sprouting," Jodi said. "We have mint, dill, parsley, thyme, and basil, and they each take 8 to 21 days to fully sprout."
The Aerogrower requires little maintenance.
PittMoss is a local company that uses recycled materials for potting mix. They say it can be used for planting veggies in your backyard or a hanging basket without the messiness of dirt.
"So, mainly like paper, cardboard, things like that," explained PittMoss CEO, Brian Scott. "It really works way, way better than traditional potting soil which is made out of peat moss and is actually harmful to the environment because there's so many carbon emission related to peat mining."
Scott says during the coronavirus pandemic, PittMoss is offering free lettuce, tomato, and carrot seeds so customers can grow their own vegetables.
"The idea for us sprung from the victory gardens that happened during World War Two where people were asked to grow gardens at home so that we could ship food for the war effort," he said. "Our thought was that we could offer our product and give away free seeds so that it would a give people some things to do at home, they could garden, grow their own food, not need to go to the store as often."
