Any #hydroponics people out there? My coriander is disappointingly leggy. Does anyone else have this problem? Do I need more light? More nutrient? Bury the seed deeper? After a little while the fallen ones die off and the healthy ones become straight (4 week old coriander) #GardeningAU
Oh wait, not quite over. Look, robot growing basil! I suspect you could adapt it to grow algae, which you could bundle into little pellets... Soy... lent.... GREEN! (damn, I think that's now trademarked). #hydroponics
First beet #harvest of the year. I got to watch it, because when I don’t harvest them in time, they first get stuck and grow into my growing baskets, and then burst them. But otherwise beets grow really well in my backyard #hydroponics system.
This batch gets pickled, and works really well with things such as hummus.
Moved hydroponic shelves out of hot garage and into basement for summer. Lettuce kept bolting out there. I planted a new batch of lettuce. 12 red romaine starts and 6 net cups with a couple seeds each of "marvel of four seasons". These varieties have served us well for years, and the red romaine are from seeds I harvested.
I'll succession sow another tub if seeds in around 2 weeks to keep them going at different ages.
Today's harvest of fresh dill from the balcony garden.
This is probably the 10th harvest I had and I'm going to use it to cook northern Iranian Baghala Ghatogh (chicken eggs, beans, garlic and dill stew).
Some people have bastardized it and using fawa beans instead, but I use the large white beans (insteadof pach-baghala used in Gilan province of Iran), soaking them in water overnight then peel them and cook them in oil for a few minutes before adding to the stew.
PS. I love the smell of fresh dill, it reminds me of my childhood and my mother's hands that smelled like fresh vegetables all the time.
My hydroponics system had a great start this year, the salad is almost ready. I also built a second horizontal one. The salad is only for testing, I'm going to plant vegetables there. #hydroponics#gardening
I have cut back my purchase of bananas because they are not local and most brands are from questionable companies.
Went to our local shop and found a huge pack of "old bananas" at discount price. So I purchased them.
This gave me the opportunity to create banana juice for my plants. Cut the peels into small pieces, added water and let it sit for w days.
Going to use the water as #potassium boost for my plants and crush the peels in a high speed mixer with coffee grounds, egg shells and a small amount of baking soda to adjust the pH level to create my speed #compost mix.
It will go into the bottom of the container I'm preparing for a friend with cherry tomatoes. Hopefully she will be able to grow them as tall as I managed (3M+) and get a lot of #tomatoes from it.
#hydroponics update: I’ve now got 11 pak choi 🥬 in my #Kratky method setup but it’s been super slow, my suspicion has been that my garage is too cold so I’m now running an experiment, one box is not insulated or heated, the other has a cheap 10W aquarium heater set to 18C and also badly done insulation - let’s see how this goes (also knew all those cheap hygrometers would come in handy!)
This time is about 700g and going to freeze them while waiting for the next batch to grow (I have one more with parsley, one with #leek, #coriander, #mint, and #dill that are not producing as much. Each unit has 15 grow holes. One is almost empty. I am missing #taragon and I'm missing Iranian Shanbalileh (شَنبَلیله یا به فارسی دری شینبل (نام علمی: Trigonella foenum-graecum) ) to have all vegetables I need except to spinach that is not worth growing in small space that I have to be self sufficient in having all necessary vegetables for cooking different Iranian dishes.
This single Ikea unit has givene 5 batch of parsley since I started it and ther are no sign of decline as ww are getting closer to summer.
It has already paid off the initial cost I paid for it and from now on, it's all profit. Next it trying to setup the Mimi tower unit to grow them with solar powered water pumps and sunshine (no artificial LEDs for this trial.
Just need to buy some fertilizer because running low.
I declare the growing season open. Germinating some snow peas and some lettuce. By the time they are ready to be transplanted into the #hydroponics system outside, hopefully the cold nights will be over.
This week's crop for the community fridge / pantry.
It's a small amount, but its just the start. 1 out of every 5 plants go to the community, even on first plantings. As I scale out, this will only increase.
It turns out my #hydroponics pump does not disassemble and so it is nigh on impossible to get roots out of it. Which is annoying because I hear it is a common problem! Any tips for removing roots from a tiny pump? I have dried them out so I could try breaking them up and knocking them out. I have also tried cursing. Also various small implements
I reset my right hydroponics cubes. It had parsley and dill in each of them. However, the leaves were a little yellow and not appetising 😭 only coriander and basil seem to do well. So I’ll stick with those and have a rolling supply. #hydroponics
#solarpunk and #gardening folks, I have a very exciting year ahead of me!! For the first time in my life, I have a garden, an allotment and enough indoor space for a small #hydroponics shelf. I'd really like to get max 2 books to learn about all these things, preferably telling me what I should prioritise for each UK season. Got any good book suggestions?
I also plan to document my exploits so stay tuned 👨🌾🌿
So hydroponics are kicking off (as well as soil container gardens, backyard gardens, and community plot gardens) with me and my friends....
....and with that now is a good time to emphasize that this is not just a hobby (or a hobby at all for some). It's easy. sure. And takes little time, money, and effort... and is fun... and calming... don't get me wrong.
But we're not doing this for shits and giggles.
This is one part of a larger effort at bringing about post-scarcity food. (Note: One part. No one thing is a panacea.)
So right now, we have efforts to garden (hydroponically or otherwise) for one's self and one's family. That's good. It either supplements or fully replaces a corporate grocery store. Great.
But it's only part of it.
The next part is mutual aid. When we plant food, we also plant for our neighbors and greater community. For every 5 plants I harvest, I give away at least 1 plant. At least 20 percent. The question then becomes, how do we get the food out. How do we distribute it?
Food banks are fine. They're already set up. Many accept home grown produce. The issue with food banks is they are often means tested. You have to prove you NEED the food before you get it. That has a shit ton of issues and often just means that people who are hungry don't get to eat.
Instead of food banks, I've been using two solutions to distribute food.
The Olio App ( https://olioapp.com/en/ ): The Olio App let's you list your produce online. Folks can then request the item and arrange for pickup. It's like craiglist and uber eats and specifically is about giving away free food.
Community Fridges / Community Pantries ( https://freedge.org/locations/ ): Free fridges and pantries are physical nodes in your community where folks that have extra food, put it in the pantry. Folks that need food, take it out. Give a food, take a food. No need for apps, low overhead, works really well and is efficient.
The key to all of this is it's NOT charity. This is MUTUAL aid. You give AND you take. As we produce for ourselves we also produce for our neighbors. Everyone eats.