Gardening In An RV: How To Grow A Traveling Garden
If you are a rolling stone that lets no moss grow under your feet, you need some ideas on a mobile garden. Keeping a garden while traveling can be challenging, but it also helps ground you and brings in wonders like fresh herbs and produce, or simply beautifies and detoxifies a closed space like an RV. Continue reading for tips on RV gardening.
Can You Garden While Traveling?
While keeping a garden in a moving vehicle may sound unwieldy and even impossible, many rovers do it with style and success. Start small and then work your way up to edibles. Even a cache of succulents can brighten the interior of a motor home and are low-maintenance. Choose what your goal is and get cracking on some of these traveling garden ideas.
If you once had a garden and find yourself missing it as you wander the world, there is hope. Houseplants are a great way to bring some green into your life. Most are easy to grow and require minimal care. The key issue when gardening in an RV is how to keep your plants in one piece while on the road.
Building shelves with holes in them to hold the containers or a bar or twine at the front to stabilize pots will keep those plants in place. Suction cup shower caddies make great planters and can simply stick to windows or the shower walls.
During travel, place containers of fresh herbs in the sink to keep them from tipping over and making a mess. Once you land for a time, you can move any that will thrive outdoors until it's time to pull up stakes and get on the road again.
Edible Gardening in an RV
An interior mobile garden the provides herbs and produce is a winning idea. Not only does it cut down on grocery bills but the process is rewarding. If plants are growing inside, a growing system that self-waters may be the way to go.
Interior plants need plenty of sunlight, so purchasing a grow light can get the traveling garden off to a good start. If your mobile home has window shelves, buy or make a planter to fit and park so the sunlight streams in on your plants.
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Choose plants like herbs, greens, and radishes that are easy to grow. These produce quickly with little fuss and can be re-planted frequently for a constant garden.
Exterior RV Gardening
If you frequently set up camp for long periods, you can make or purchase larger containers for items like tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, beans, or peas. Some of the simplest containers are 5-gallon buckets with holes punched in the bottom. A garden box mounted on the bumper of the vehicle is another way to grow bigger produce. Even large plastic totes make great containers.
Choose varieties of produce with a short seed to harvest time. Use a good potting soil and keep plants watered, since container grown plants dry out quickly. Feed your plants frequently, since potting soil has limited nutrients.
Consider placing plants on a wagon or casters so you can easily move them around the campsite and catch the most sun. It may take a little effort but keeping a garden while traveling is fun and rewarding.
Bonnie Grant is a professional landscaper with a Certification in Urban Gardening. She has been gardening and writing for 15 years. A former professional chef, she has a passion for edible landscaping.
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