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.