Gardening in Winter

Happy Saturday everyone!  Or whatever day it is that you happen across this post.  🙂  As fresh white snow falls outside, it’s fresh and green inside… with my new AeroGarden!   

I’ve had one of these on my Amazon wish list forever, and this year my sister bought one for me for Christmas.  Ho, ho, ho, merry gardening!  🎅

This is a 6 pod model that came with a starter set of herbs.  Two varieties of basil, parsley, thyme, mint, and dill.

I had lots of fun setting it up.  It felt more like a science project than gardening, and I suppose it kinda is.  Gotta love science that lets me garden indoors during the winter!  I felt a bit like a mad scientist.  “It’s alive!”   Or it will be soon.  😉  Here it is all “planted”…

It has a handy lighted display that lets you know when it was planted, when to add water, and when to add nutrients…

But it doesn’t actually work properly.  When you add the nutrients after the first 14 days, all you’re supposed to need to do is press the OK button and it’s supposed reset, but it doesn’t.  I’ve had to reset the entire garden twice now, but I guess it doesn’t really matter, once it’s growing, you don’t really need to know how many days it’s been planted.  I went online and found that other people were having the same issue, so at least I know it’s not just mine.

Each pod in the kit came with a little disk shaped label attached to the top that has information about the seeds planted within…

Observe the reflection of the unit’s built-in “disco lights” haha!  They don’t actually revolve around like a disco ball, but wouldn’t that be cool?!  If only they had a suggestion box.  😉   These lights are extremely bright, and because the timer is on the herbs 17 hour cycle, we have to cover it at night until they turn off or we go blind whenever we come into the kitchen.

Despite the 4 – 7 day label on the Thai Basil above, it was actually the Genovese Basil that was the first to sprout…

So exciting!

Soon, all but the dill and parsley were big enough to remove their little domes…

And here they are about a week later with the two basil plants towering over the rest.  I’ve been having to prune the basil a lot…

And here’s what it looked like this morning…

The dill is hiding in the back left corner…

Even though you can’t see it very well from the front, it’s getting plenty of light back there.  Dill grows really tall, so I’m sure I’ll have to keep pinching this guy back to keep it contained.

The thyme is a bit shaded though, so I’ll have to prune the basil a bit more…

No worries about the mint though, I’m sure it’ll grow like a weed regardless, spreading out its minty freshness…

But I will have to tame the mint a bit for the parsley’s sake.  The parsley has taken forever to sprout, I was beginning to worry that I had a dud pod.  But here he is.  Cute little teeny tiny parsley finally sprouting.  🌱

In all, I’m pretty darn pleased so far, and I’m looking forward to growing more fresh goodies in my little AreoGarden.

I forgot to mention that as the plants grow taller you’re able to raise the disco lights.  I raised it higher than recommended to snap the photo below, it’s supposed to be just high enough that the plants aren’t touching it.  If it’s too high, the plants will grow tall and spindly.  You’re also supposed to keep the taller plants pruned shorter until all of the plants are roughly around the same height.  As you can see, I need to prune the basil some more…

How many times have I mentioned that now?  Haha!  Maybe I’ll go down and do it after I post this…

But gosh you guys, do these fresh little herbs ever smell amazing!  It’s especially refreshing right now in the dead of winter.

Thank you again so much, Forest (my sister’s nickname), for getting me this little AeroGarden, I’m having lots of fun with it!  (Even though Mom hates it because of the bright lights. “Bright light, bright light!”) 🙃

Next, I’m thinking that I’ll get a selection of lettuces to grow.  If they do well, I may always grow my lettuce indoors, even during the regular growing season, because the bugs always bug my lettuce. 🐛 By the way, you don’t have to get the AeroGarden’s pre-seeded pods, you can reuse the empty grow baskets and domes that came with the kit and then use your own seeds.  All you’ll need are their little grow sponge thingies.  Just noticing that this kinda sounds like I’m doing a review for the AeroGarden or something haha!

Well, whatever it is, thanks for letting me share about it!  Ahh… the joys of gardening…

Have a wonderful day!

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿