Happy Earth Day !

Let's hope this day is action vs. a catch phrase.

We can change the world one moment at a time.

God's greenest miracle.

The Spinach adapted quickly. 7 days after transplanting the spinach has shown some healthy growth. With the large root system each plant should have good yields on a regular and rapid basis. No adjustments were made in the 7 days since transplanting.

Aeroponic System - Spinach

When I moved I transplanted spinach from the indoors to the outdoors. I planted the spinach in soil that i had composted over a year in the back yard from organic food waste and grass cuttings. The spinach grew well and grew a strong root. As spring approached the insects discovered a great new meal source leaving holes in the spinach. Yesterday I saw a bluebird indulging. I am happy for them, however I decided to move the crop back inside and see the results of moving from soil to aeroponic. I trimmed the spinach leaf and left it for those in need in the back yard. I rinsed off all of the dirt so that the spray nozzles in the system would not clog.

I placed the root systems in rockwool to insure the roots were kept warm and maintained enough moisture to acclimate to the move from soil to aeroponic. I set the ph to approximately 6.0. The air temperature was 75 degrees since we had a cold front move in the day before. I would have liked to plant at 82 degrees but we should warm up in the next few days. Relative humidity was a little high at 75 %, however it dropped to 48% overnight. With such a strong root system the spinach should yield some promising results and great evening salads.

Fresh Basil tops to local restaurant

I just trimmed the sweet basil tops to induce vegetation. I took them up to a local restaurant where I happen to work and gave them to the executive chef, Jack Adams. As I walked them through the restaurant people commented on the aroma that filled the rather large restaurant. Jack said the color was deeper than he recieves from the regular vendors. Jack tasted a leaf and exclaimed, "spicy." Juan the sushi chef bit off a leaf and tasted it. His thumb immediatly went up and he said, "thats' good basil." Rich the brick oven pizza chef happened to walk into the kitchen, smelled the basil, said. "thats good basil," grabbed a handfull and said, "I am going to use this right now."

Trimmed the hydro basil

I trimmed some basil tops as I am changing out the water today and adding fresh water at proper ph and bloom nutrient solution. I may try to reverse the bloom cycle and trick the plant back into vegetative stage for a few weeks. I am not sure that is possible since it has already been in bloom. I will adjust the light back to 18 on and 6 off and then go back to the metal halide light for the proper light spectrum. I took them to Jack the chef at City Tropics Bistro where I am bar manager and he said the color was much deeper than he is receiving from his vendors. He also said it was a lot mre spicy and as I walked it through the restaurant I herd comments of the aroma. It has a very strong aroma. Juan who is the sushi chef tasted it and immediatly threw his thumb in the air and said, "thats good basil." This was not a harvest of the large leaves but a simple topping to induce thicker vegetation. Shane

Hydroponics & Aeroponics. Food for thought. No pun intended.

I recently got involved in growing herbs (legal) and vegetables inside of a spare bedroom I had. The squirrel outside of my window enjoys locally grown produce without shopping at whole foods by the way. I set up 3 unique test environments. Aeroponic, hydroponic and ebb and flow or sometimes know as ebb and grow. I never used a grain of soil or natural sunlight. It was amazing to experience the transformation from simple seed to fresh basil on my pasta sauce, delicious cherry tomatoes that burst with flavour and wonderful fresh mint for afternoon tea. I will soon be posting some pictures from the experiment and my results. On another note. I went to several major global hunger websites and typed in key words such as hydroponics and aeroponics, "No results?" Every year 15 million children die of hunger, my God. Mother nature's way of maintaining a balance or perhaps global food mismanagement. I am sure we could spend hours discussing the reasons. However, that's what we tend to do in most crisis. Discuss cause and affect but not a viable solution until it is to late or not at all. Solar has been around for 50 plus years. Yes, before roswell. I will get off of the politics since I am traveling the path I speak of. Someone once coined the phrase, "Think globally, act locally." Catchy, some wear it on shirts. Perhaps we should just say "act." Stop the thinking, which is usually my biggest obstacle to action. It seems to me we have a food shortage on the most fertile planet in the know universe that we have access to. We are also very quickly bringing up the rear on a water shortage. Yes, if you are reading this then the odds it will happen in your lifetime are pretty good. Suddenly the very comical and science fiction based movie "ice pirates" may be a reality. Now where am I going with this? Aeroponics and hydroponics recycle water and grow at rather faster rates that our very soil. We ignored solar for fifty plus years. Let's not ignore alternative farming. Folk's think going green is expensive, however we have many inexpensive ways to increase our energy efficiency on a local level and for those who will capitalize from this there is also green for them in green. Regards, Shane