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STARSHIP HOMESTEADBOLDLY GROW
The Captain

Hi. My name's Michael.

I'm the Rebel Gardener. I grow food in a backyard greenhouse in Southeast Idaho, where winter is long and the growing season is short.

Michael in his greenhouse

I work long hours. Twelve-hour days, sometimes gone thirteen or fourteen. That changes how you garden. Anything that needs watering every day is going to die on me, and for a while, a lot of things did.

I tried the paper towel method for my superhot peppers. They sprouted great, but I struggled to transplant those tender little seedlings. I tried the double solo cup method. They dried out while I was at work. When your peppers are small, uneven watering will kill them fast.

So I started building wicking beds: garden beds that water themselves from a reservoir underneath. I've built a bunch of different styles and I've got it down pretty good. Then I had an epiphany. Why not start the seeds right in the wicking bed? I gave it a shot, and it worked.

The Starship Homestead idea: a ship far from home has to grow its own food, recycle its water, and keep running when nobody's watching. That's a homestead. That's food security. And honestly, it's just a lot more fun to think of your greenhouse as the ship's hydroponics bay.

I'm a big believer in using what you've got lying around. Totes, drain pipe, scraps from the last project. It doesn't have to be pretty. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's not rocket science, even when it looks like a rocket.

Some experiments work. Some don't. That's how we learn. Pull up a chair, and let's boldly grow where no one has grown before.

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