Seed sorting and Planning the Garden

Me and Luna hung out today and sorted through some seeds that I will be planting this spring. She is always happy with whatever we are doing and doesnt complain. This spring I think that I might be going a little overboard with the amount of flowers but it’s always fun planting more each year. I am always saying I’m not going to plant as much but I end up with more every time. It’s always fun tying different flowers and vegetables and I learn more about what I like more from the previous years. I am going to be planting more zinnias and also I collected dahlia seeds from my favorite flowers to try growing some of my own for the first time. It will be fun to see what happens with those. 

Grow Tower Update

I want to share an update on my grow tower as of today and show you how much it has grown. I made a few changes to what I’m growing and very happy with how it’s going. I also switched the nutrients to another brand and things have really improved. The leaves are very green and there are several blossoms on the zucchini and the tomato plant. Previously I had some blossoms on my green bean plant but I learned something that you should not do and that is to cut the roots. I thought that trimming the roots would be a healthy thing to do but the plant soon started to die. So I started more seeds and I have another very healthy bean plant. I’m not sure that it will produce beans but I am hopeful. So far from my experience the second time around is sometimes better. I had a tomato plant that didn’t do well and I started more seeds and the one seen here in the picture with the blossoms is doing very well.

It’s blowing my mind at how much this tower has grown and how successful it’s been. Of course I expected it to work out well, but I had my doubts that I would be able to grow anything.

I have experience with traditional gardening but this was a stretch to try something different and I really wanted to see what hydroponics was all about. So far I really like it!

Winter Gardening indoors with Hydropics

Hello! it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. Ive been very busy with many projects and as always, it was extremely hard for me to part with the garden in the fall. I miss being outside in the sunshine and being with the plants. In order to keep my mind and body healthy I stay busy as much as I can in the winter, even if it’s raining I try and get out and do a little something for myself. Lately it’s been Luna that has been keeping me busy. I try and get her out and exercise everyday. 

Aside from that I need to keep my mind busy with gardening. Whether it is planning next spring’s garden or just purchasing new seeds and getting prepared, I need to be busy in all of it. While reading up on certain gardening tips I discovered some videos and articles on hydroponic gardens and I started looking at pricing. Initially I thought there is no way I can afford one, they were going for around $1000 and way out of my price range. So I did find a very inexpensive tower online around $200 and decide to try it. 

I’m very surprised by it so far. I really had no idea that it would give me this much joy. One of the main things that attracted me to this type of garden is the self sufficiency that it could possibly bring. The way the food is currently priced and the amount of toxic chemicals on our produce, this was a no brainer when trying to decide if I was going through with it or not. I went all in! I set it up around December 30 and found that I had a broken part which took another few weeks to get a replacement, but it’s wonderful now. I’ve been harvesting greens to make salads off the tower for my lunches and dinners. 

When there is a shortage of greens on the tower I’ve been substituting my greens with sprouts and microgreens which I’m also loving. This is very easy to do once you get the hang of it. I think the hardest part is staying on top of seed starts and doing it regularly as things do die off and need to be replaced often. 

My unit is very tiny and I haven’t been able to grow anything really big yet, but I am so grateful for what I have been able to grow for myself within the last 2 months. I recommend this for anyone who wants to grow their own food indoors and has extreme winters where they cannot grow all year round. Also it’s just very cool to be able to just stand in the kitchen and cook and teach over and grab from the tower when you need something. 

 I am so glad that I gave this a try, it has really changed my life and added so much joy to my days when it’s snowing outside or cloudy and windy and just cold! There is not nearly enough sunlight, so anything to add some sunshine to my life is very important. 

Luna also adds brightness to my days! Here we are yesterday on the lake shore walking in the snow. We have been practicing on a long line! It was very cold and rained but we got a peak of the sun for a brief moment.