Hydroponic System

As we have been starting our microgreens, we also have been preparing to begin with hydroponics.  Over the last few months we have slowly been piecing together components for our own homemade system, and today it is finally ready. 

 We started some lettuces and some spinach at the same time as our microgreens. We planted the seeds in organic potting soil to start them, and have had them beneath the grow light to strengthen them enough for transplanting. 

Here is day 1

On day 3 we saw the first signs of life. 

Day 4 most of the lettuce came up, but not much of the spinach. 

Here is day 5

And here are the plants today, after some have been transplanted into the Aquaponics system. 

Our system consists of a 27 gallon tote, with holes cut out of the lid in order to just fit our growing cups. 

The cups are filled with growing pebbles and rest on the surface of the water, which is constantly being airated with bars that are commonly used in fish tanks. 

To transplant the lettuce we carefully rinsed the soil from the roots and placed the plants in the growing containers with the pebbles for support. They were then inserted into the holes and fit quite snugly inside. 

The water is treated with a solution of fertilizer to help the plants grow.

We have been very excited to get this project done. We are looking forward to the fresh vegetables our new system will provide!

Our First Microgreens

The I've been doing a lousy job of keeping up with our gardening experiments over the last few weeks. It's time for an update, or maybe a few...

First we want to share our microgreen experiment.  This one has been exciting for us. Here is a picture of what our first batch looks like today. 

Microgreens are fascinating because they are packed with all the nutrition and the flavor of the full grown plants, as well as having the benefit of a short growing cycle. 

We started with a high protein seed mixture. This consisted of adzuki, garbanzo, mung beans, and green pea seeds. The seeds we purchased were part of a sprouting set, typically intended for growing sprouts. 

To plant the seeds, we placed them on top of a layer of soil and sprayed them down with a spray fine mist so that the seeds wouldn't shift or clump. We planted them on the evening of April 26th. 

Here is a picture of the seeds on April 28th as they began to sprout. 

Once they started growing they grew quickly. Here is the photo from the next day, April 29th. 

And then on April 30th.

Here they are on May 2nd.

Unfortunately I neglected the pictures this week, so the next I have are from today. 

The greens have grown enough now that they are ready to harvest. Once the second set of leaves just start to show, they are ready to eat. We are looking forward to adding some to our salad this evening and tasting the fruits of our labors. 

As this batch of microgreens are now ready we are starting our next batch. We are using alfalfa seeds this time. And are excited to see how well they do!