A "Window farm" craze is sweeping New York City. To grow herbs and vegetable plants year-round, New Yorkers are building hydroponic drip systems which they suspend like photosynthesizing curtains in their apartment windows.

With the goal of making it possible for New Yorkers to grow some of their own food even if they don't have access to their own patch of dirt, my collaborator, Rebecca Bray and I started the windowfarms project. We built the first windowfarm in my Brooklyn apartment in February of this year and within two months I was getting a salad a week from my kitchen "greens and beans" garden.

Our first goal is to get as many people as possible growing some of their own food, for the sake of all of our health, our sense of self-suffiency, and our environment.

Toward that goal, we have put downloadable "how-to's" for a couple of different systems up on our site here. The easiest version holds three plants, costs about $15 for parts, and can be assembled in about an hour. The more robust windowfarm, for a full New York apartment window, holds up to 25 plants, costs about $125 for parts, and can be assembled in about 6 hours with 2 people. We also are periodically hosting how-to workshops in New York, including Family Day at the Whitney Oct. 3 and Open Studios Day at Eyebeam Oct.24. 

Our second goal is to get ordinary folks involved in the research and development of solutions to environmental problems.

Our projects are all about R&D-I-Y (Research and develop it yourself!!). We have created a user-generated website at our.windowfarms.org where we can all share, test, refine, and comment on evolving designs for windowfarms and for other potential DIY solutions to environmental problems.

A giant windowfarm is currently on display in the windows of Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in Chelsea through Aug 27. We thank Eyebeam for their gracious support of this project through their artist's residency program.