Monday, March 23, 2009

Picture a Day - Day 111

There are a few topics I take a picture of every now and again as a sort of backup in case my life takes a turn for the incredibly dull (I think we've been sitting at snoozefest since February.) Sunday is a prime example as we have fallen into such a typical routine deviating from it for a minute is sure to drive you mad.

But yesterday I realized I had something exciting to talk about that is related to my good ol back up.

For Christmas we got one of those aerogardens. It's a soiless plant growing system, so there's lots of bubbling water underneath and it is very demanding with little lights flashing and buttons.
The thinking was that then we could grow stuff inside that we'd never get to take off at our place. But of course the first set of seeds it comes with are for herbs.

We know that basil and dill are as hearty as all get out. Hell even after the mass Christmas slaughter thanks to us being gone for a week we still have one basil plant going strong in the sunless window. But I planted the herbs anyway wanting to play with my new toy.

This weekend we both realized that we just never use the herbs there (mint? Really who plucks mint for a dish?) so I took the poor thing apart and cleaned her out. It was pretty cool being able to see the entire root system though.

This is one basil plant.After bleaching it and cleaning her out (and pushing all the crazy buttons) I added our newest little seedlings: Hopefully in a month or two we'll have nice fresh cherry tomatoes we'll have no idea what to do with.

Anyone else ever tried using one of these little hydropaunic wonders? I'm hoping that as I get more secure with it and get a real garden I can use it as a seed starter.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of roots.

I think with mint you could pluck it and use it for fresh mint tea or to make mint sauce to serve on lamb.

I wish my house was a better climate for growing plants. But, to be honest, I'd probably forget about them and they'd die. Or I'd give them too much love and they'd die. Alas.

Linda said...

Sadly, I want one. But no one has gotten me one yet.
I love mint tea or just mint water. Very refreshing!

Chesney said...

Believe it or not, my teenage boys have been wanting one of those! Looks pretty cool, maybe I will have to break down and get one...

valerie said...

holy crap! i have always wanted one of those things, but was afraid it wouldn't work. now i'm really itching to have one.

i hope the tomatoes grow well! i'm excited to see results.

/end nerd-dom.