In bloom

Outside my basil is trying to flower like crazy.  I keep picking them off so that I get one last big leaf harvest before fall.  I found it interesting that my oregano bloomed too. Does it know fall is approaching even though it is in a climate controlled environment? Or is it a coincidence?

My salad burnet was a failure so I replaced it with lettuce.

Disappointment

My salad burnet is dying.  I've never had luck with starting it from seed, and this is no exception.  The leaves are starting to look dry.

The tomato that I had such high hopes for is not producing much.  It had so many blossoms, but so far I only see three tomatoes despite shaking it daily.

However, you can see that the oregano is vining up the tomato plant, which is kind of cool!

8/3

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I last posted!

The first of my two tomato plants has died like these tomatoes tend to do.  However, the second plant is alive and healthy and looks like it's ready to produce a second crop of tomatoes!

These mighty minis are so inconsistent I don't think I'll ever figure them out.

And would you look at that oregano! It has actually vined out and climbed into the tomato plant.

In place of the missing tomato, I planted some salad burnet, which is an herb whose leaves like cucumber.  It's also supposed to be a perennial, so I will put it outside eventually.  I have tried growing this from seed before, but have never had much luck.  This time, things are looking good!

These two little sprouts came from just one seed! (Ignore what the paper cover says - it's the third use I got out of this one.)


Outside, my green basil continues to flourish.  I picked enough to make a batch of pesto for six people.  I think that plant is really glad to be outside even though it does not get as much light.
The mini red peppers are doing amazingly well too.  I have several little green peppers and many more flowers. 
The purple basil is doing alright - it never was a fast grower.  But it did get its deep purple color back.  I always thought it would be fun to make a batch of purple pesto, but I would need more than one plant at the rate this grows.

An overdue update and a small harvest

Now that both of my basil and both pepper plants have been growing outside in dirt for at least a couple weeks, I can say that they've adapted beautifully!  I have a few peppers that are turning red.
The green basil has gotten as tall as my knee, and very bushy!  The purple basil is not growing as fast as the green, but it never has.  It is a beautiful deep shade of purple though.

This batch of tomatoes is doing better than previous attempts - one plant more so than the other.  The plant in the back actually has to be propped up because it is so heavy.  The oregano is still enjoying the extra room it has in this garden.

Last night, I harvested my tomatoes to use in a recipe.  It probably wasn't enough to make a huge difference, but it was exciting for the kids :) 

Thinning the jungle

Last time I posted, I wrote about transplanting my green basil and pepper.  I can tell you now that they are doing very well! The pepper plant has two tiny peppers on it, and the basil looks pretty happy.  So I decided to plant my purple basil outside a few days ago.  It does not stand up straight for some reason, maybe just because it's so top-heavy.  And the purpleness of the leaves has been fading and turning more green.  We'll see what some summer sun does to it.

That means I have only one plant left in my bigger Aerogarden.  I did not want to move that pepper plant until the pepper on it ripens.  I was pleasantly surprised today to see this:

After some Googling, I found out the  cracks on the skin are called  "corking" and that they do not signal a problem.

My small AG is doing well too.  I have a good crop of tomatoes coming in, and the oregano looks better than it ever has before, even after being chopped up just a few days ago and thrown into some chicken :)

Garden renovations

So it seems this one space refuses to grow a tomato.

The other two are doing great, though, and have several small tomatoes on each plant.  I pulled the dead one and put my scraggly little oregano there instead.  Hopefully with less competition for light it will flourish.

My one mini pepper continues to thrive.

Looking back on it, these were a mistake. I have lost several blooms to burning in the light even at the highest setting.  And since they grew so high they were difficult to pollinate.

So for fun today, I pulled the plant without a pepper and planted it in my outdoor garden.  I had to cut the basket off of it and plant the sponge.  I did the same with the green basil.  So far, the basil looks good and the pepper is questionable.
That leaves one pepper plant and the purple basil on my AG7. I will transplant the other two later, but I do not want to move my pepper until it is ripe.

The end of an era, and the start of something new

I hate to say it, but the original mighty mini is done for.  One tomato fell off and the plant is flat.

However, the other mighty minis look healthy and happy with new blooms opening every day!

And I've finally gotten a pepper successfully pollinated:

Weekend Chicken Bacon Pesto

I'm not calling this a recipe because when I cook, I don't measure.  And I'm not calling it "Cleaning Out The Fridge and Pantry and Adding Pesto" because, although completely accurate, it's a little less appealing.  But I will tell you what I had for lunch today.

First, the important part: the pesto!
I took my entire collection of basil leaves from the freezer and added some fresh ones from my AeroGarden, which totaled about 1/4th of a cup.  I added about the same amount of olive oil and grated Romano/Parmesan cheese blend.  Then I took a heaping scoop of minced garlic and whatever oregano I could cut off my tiny oregano plant and threw it all in the Magic Bullet until it was liquid.  I actually ended up adding a little more oil at the end so it was more of a sauce consistency rather than mashed potato consistency.

I tossed the sauce with macaroni noodles, cut up grilled chicken breasts from the other night, and some chopped up slices of precooked bacon.  I felt like I could have called it "Gourmet cooking for the lazy person," because it took 10 minutes and it turned out great!

A long overdue update

With the beautiful weather we've been having, I have been too busy to update.  It seems like so much keeps happening though.

My 2 basil and one oregano are still going strong. 
My "miniature" peppers got much taller than I anticipated.  They are touching the lights.  I think trying to plant them outside is probably for the best.  I still have not had a bloom fall off and leave a  tiny pepper, but I have plenty of blooms on each plant so my hopes are high.

My first mighty mini cherry tomato looks like it's nearing the end of its life.  Once those two larger tomatoes ripen I will get rid of the plant.

My other mighty minis are doing well though.  One of the original 3 died, so I have three different ages of tomatoes growing in my AG3.  And it's already pollination time for one of them!

I tried a little experiment when I harvested my first batch of mighty minis.  I'm a big believer in saving and replanting seeds.  Less than half of them grew, but I still consider it a success.   They grow considerably slower than the ones in the AeroGarden, even though they get the exact same light.  Wouldn't they be cute growing in one of those upside-down tomato things?

My husband is getting tired of my AeroGardens taking up counter space, so I am going to try to survive on only the AG3 until next fall once I clear some of my other plants out.  Maybe.

Tomatoes and peppers

These pics are actually about a week old, so the 3 week mark for my tomatoes.  With Easter and the beautiful weather we've been having lately, I kept putting off posting an update.

3 weeks

Pollination time for peppers!

The power went out here, so I lost the official nutrient timer.  I will have to try to reset them on the day when I think they are supposed to need nutrients.  Luckily, that's the same day this time :)

Time flies!

It's been a week and 2 days since planting my mighty minis.  The label says they take 7-14 days to sprout, but as with everything else I've planted in my Aerogardens, they have overachieved!  Except for that one back there, that one totally failed.  I planted a new seed in its place today.  It was sort of growing, but I'm not sure it could get out of the sponge.  I was using some kind of non-AG sponge with a deeper hole.

First set of "real" leaves

Also this week, my first tomato harvest!

5 days

It has been five days since I planted my tomatoes, and look at them now!

Also, I think there are peppers in my near future

Starting over

My smaller mighty mini cherry tomato has been looking pretty pathetic.  The leaves were dried up, so this morning I made the call and pulled it.  Since cleaning the pump of my AG7, the peppers have started taking up more than their fair share of space, so I moved one over and left the middle space empty.

Since I now only have one tomato plant, and the tomatoes it produces are about the size of a grape, I decided to plant some more.  So bye bye lettuce.  You had a good life.

So much stem and not enough leaf.  It was time for it to go.  Plus it had been needing nutrients for a couple days now, so I figured it was a perfect time.

The lettuce had developed some impressive roots, one was several feet long.

Although I tried, there was no way I was going to salvage that grow sponge.  It looks like an order of sponges is in my future, but for now I still have some left that I had purchased when I bought my AG7.

I was able to save the grow baskets, because they're plastic.  I can't see why anyone would ever need to buy more grow baskets.  But then again, I think I may have thought that about sponges at one point in my early AeroGardening days.

I rinsed the grow bowl, airstone, and baskets, which wasn't too gross.  Everything was covered in a layer of brown "scum" which I assume is nutrient residue, but it came off easily.  If you're careful when removing the old sponges, you can sometimes save the paper on top of the basket.  Otherwise, it's simple enough to make your own out of freezer paper.

I got out my trusty old tomato kit and dug some seeds out of a pod.  Sorry, AeroGarden, but when you charge me $18 for a seed kit (although I didn't pay that. It's the principle of the thing) and put 5 seeds per basket, I will pick them apart and make 5 baskets from them. Every. Single. Time.  I haven't yet had a seed from AG that didn't sprout.

I wouldn't have the heart to chop off 4 healthy plants.

These say they sprout in 7-14 days.  I'd be willing to bet it doesn't take them that long.

I got my baskets inserted, new water and nutrients added and reset the garden.  Total time from start to finish was actually less time than it took me to write this post.

My other tomato is doing great.  I'm kicking myself for not cleaning out the pump sooner.  I can't believe what a change my garden has had in just 3 days.

That basil is all the way to the top on the tallest setting.  My son is doing a science fair project and is borrowing light, which is why it's up so high.  Basil grows so fast that if it didn't taste so good, they would probably consider it a weed. 

At last!

It's been a while since I  have posted anything, mainly because there wasn't much to post. After my AG7 seemed to have some sort of vortex around it where time does not move, I decided to do a rinse and refill and also clean out the tubes in the pump. That seemed to do the trick because just a few days later here is what I found:

A slightly orange tomato!  The peppers seemed to have an immediate growth spurt too:

Now for the bad news. My lettuce is nearing the end of its life. It seems to be more stem than leaf anymore.  Once I finally make up my mind what to grow there next I will probably pull the lettuce.  It will be a sad day - those little plants have provided me with countless garnishes and hours of entertainment.

It's a jungle in here

My lettuce is growing faster than I can use it.  Probably thanks to the extra cold temps we've been having lately.  And although we've had -20 windchills here this week, I started my outdoor garden too!

 Remember the romaine experiment?  The leaves are still pathetic, but it actually bolted.  It's also turning slimy, so it's kind of a race to see if it rots first or gives me seeds.


My tomato plant seems like it has come to a standstill.  I'm not sure if I can blame that on colder temps, but that's the only theory I've got right now. I may try a complete water change next time I add nutrients.

The basils have been producing extremely well, and I have to nip off leaves every day.  The oregano hit a growth spurt this week too and had to be trimmed because it was starting to vine into other plants' space.

The newer tomato and two peppers are getting new sets of leaves.

12 weeks. Game over?

My first bottle of nutrients ran out today.  Does that mean it's time to pull out my lettuce and start over? I think not!  It's still producing well and drinking a ton of water.  I continue to harvest every couple of days, usually only a handful leaves here and there to go on top of something.

12 week old lettuce

I wish I could say the same for my romaine lettuce experiment.  You can see my creeping thyme back there too, which seems to be doing well under the AG lights.

If someone asked me whether growing an AeroGarden salad was worth it based upon this one season, I would say yes.  Without considering the initial cost of the AG, I probably didn't save any money.  Between the cost of running the light and pump and buying nutrients it's probably a wash at  best.  However,  to have fresh salad at my fingertips at any time is great.  My family has eaten fresh lettuce when  we otherwise would have skipped lettuce altogether.  And of course with produce, the fresher the item is the more vitamins are in it.

I will continue to let this lettuce grow until it stops producing, then I think I am going to try strawberries - without the grow bowl.

My AG7 is growing beautifully. The newest plants have sprouted, and the slow-to-take-off oregano has really taken off.  The basil continues to grow faster than  anything else and must be harvested every couple of days.

The mighty minis are growing like a boss.  I counted no less than 9 visible tomatoes.  The largest one is the size of a small grape.

Tomatoes!

Pollination was successful!  I have at least 4 little tomatoes.

Hidden objects: There are at least two tomatoes hidden in this picture. Can you find them?

The larger of the two tomatoes is above the left front flower, the other is just above the right.

My newest tomato has already sprouted its first set of real leaves.  The peppers have both sprouted, but haven't quite made it above their papers yet.

Lettuce has survived another massive harvest, also known in my house as chimichanga night.