Go with the Flow

It's been hard to make new starts so I am just enjoying the big stuff.

Cherry tomatoes are thriving. 

So are the Brussels sprouts (but no sprouts) and kale. 

These leaves make a wonderful contribution to my chicken bone soup!

Yum yum

Sorry, been remiss in keeping up to date with my Tower Garden. Suffice it to say that it has been producing some delicious veggies!

Broccoli is starting to bud!

Been enjoying lots of kale. 

I've got new seedlings planted too. 

Now that summer is in full force, I have to refill the water reservoir every few days. So I am using nutrients at half strength to keep up. 

The zucchini and tomatoes are not getting past the flowering stage so I have other varieties sprouting now. 

The okra is like a tree. Producing large and tender veggies that I am harvesting often. 

Time to start some new seedlings.

It is summer and it is HOT! I have to keep refilling the water and nutrients every few days. Because it is so hot and evaporating quickly, I'm using the nutrients at half strength.

Loving the okra!

Nutrients and a flower at last!

Wow! The water level went down to nothing in this hot summer weather. 

Tonight I refilled the water reservoir and added nutrients. 

This morning I was excited to see the first okra flower!

Hope to have some okra soon!

Lots more buds too. 

Bugs are getting to some of the plants... 

While others are thriving!

All in all, it's still awesome!

Happy Plants

They have only been in sunlight a couple of days and the plants are looking happy already. 

I strung a few flypaper strips near the tower to catch bugs. 

The afternoon sun shines on it so I have to rotate it manually. But it still works great. 

Okra is coloring up and wants to produce flowers soon. 

Basil is thriving. 

The Move

 Well, observation says that the leafy veggies do ok with the artificial light. But I am not seeing the flowers we need for the next step. So tonight we move the Tower Garden downstairs and into the afternoon sun. 

As far as it went inside the house. 

The tower is taken downstairs. 

Placing the tub on the dolly in its new home. 

Noticing that bugs already got to the tomato plants. 

Assembling the tomato rings. 

Tada. Filled the tub with filtered water from my fish room and added nutrients. The ph was a perfect 5.5. 

The Price of Paradise

Got my first electric bill since installing the grow lights. It added a hefty $40 to my power bill and that includes the fact that the circuit is on my PV system. Keep in mind that we had many rainy days in April and extra cloud cover. In the meantime, I am enjoying fresh baby greens and bok choy.

The large plants are bushy and ready for my tomato rings!

Hope there is enough of the right kind of light to stimulate flower production. In the meantime, the zucchini is bushing out!

Ready-made seedlings.

I was going to sprout all my own veggies for the Tower Garden UNTIL I saw that strawberry plant. Well, then I ran into arugula, spinach and chive seedlings. I just had to have these too.

Out came the marigolds and a mesclun and in went the usurpers after a thorough cleansing to remove the potting soils and stuff clinging to the roots.

Strawberries.

Ok. Waimea is not normally associated with strawberries but Tower Gardens are. Why not? Sez I.

I was in Walmart yesterday and saw some strawberry plants in small pots. So I took a chance. 

This morning I removed it from the pot and washed it well, removing all the potting material and some of the finer roots. I placed it in some rock wool and replaced one of the marigold cups with the strawberry plant. 

Here's how it looked when I got home this afternoon. 

Not bad!