Their short roots, vine structure and endless production strategy make strawberries the ideal candidates for this indoor alternative. My current goal is to build such a structure in my basement so that next winter I can enter a living, edible wonderland just below my floorboards. Then I can pick strawberries and taste summertime, escaping the grasp of the howling snowstorm outside my window.

My first experience with wine making was with strawberries. My junior year of high school alongside the wildly enthusiastic and passionate boyfriend I had at the time was a time to break out and rebel a bit. This rebellion was tinted fuchsia, mashed, and boiled with cups of sugar, sifted through sieves, and feeding yeast. It sat patiently and expectant brewing in the closet, bubbling all the while. We did all we could to stop it from bursting past its confine and all over the small, dim space. Once the bottles were boiled and cleaned in the bathtub, the wine was separated between liquid and pulp. And there we sat, still under the legal age limit, enjoying the most delicious alcoholic beverage I had tasted. Given my inexperience this might not say too much, but that act, and taste stays incredibly present in my memory. It was an act of self-made independence and the taste of empowerment.