Planted

Here it is! I took cuttings of basil, purple basil, cilantro and dill from the aerogarden and planted them into coir. which is the ground up husks of coconuts.. The nutrients I'm using are derived from molasses. I added the stand in order to provide more room under the lights. I can get ~2 feet of clearance under the lights which are compact florescent Ott lights. (Ott designed the lights so pumpkins would grow under them for time lapse photography) I'm continuing to keep it all organic just like the aerogarden.. Herbs are the simplist thing to grow, since you don't want them to flower you can use just one nutrient solution and a constant timer for the lights... The media is flooded for 10 minutes 5 times a day. If the cuttings survive, I'll see how long I can keep harvesting before they bolt and then grow something from seeds... If they don't survive, I'll go right to trying seeds.

Pocket Hydroponics

Ok... I have an Aerogarden, which is about the coolest thing on earth... It's gotten me hooked on hydroponics. The Aerogarden is actually aeroponics, which means that some of the roots are suspended above the waterline and some below, allowing the plants to self regulate their air/water needs. The system I built this morning is known as an "ebb and flow" or "flood and drain" hydroponics. There is a small fountain pump in the bucket which will run for about 5 minutes every half hour and will fill the "planters" with a nutrient mix (shown by the red food coloring) When the pump goes off, the nutrients will drain back into the bucket. The lights on a second timer will run ~16 a day. The planters are 2-liter pop bottles (although the one front left is only a 1 liter bottle) The bottles can be changed out and the system is pretty much infinitely expandable and can be put outdoors without lights. At least, thats the theory. I'll get some planting media and nutrients when I'm downtown this evening. Then I'll get something planted tomorrow!

Cathy's Kitchen

Here it is!!

Dog Pic

Here's a picture of Hazel and Huckleberry! Aren't they cute? This picture was taken from Rawls blackberry, we seem to be out of batteries for the camera. Which is why I didn't photo document the yogurt making yesterday. http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese_course/Cheese_course.htm is where it all started... Also, an episode of Good Eats (Good Milk, Gone Bad) Making the yogurt was a fairly easy task. I made two quarts with organic 2% milk and was successful (not always the case with things I ferment on purpose) So, I had yogurt on my cereal this morning.. and we made BBC frozen yogurt last night.. here's the recipe: Combine 1 quart yogurt, 1 can cream of coconut, 1 really ripe banana, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup pineapple rum, and 2/3 cup baileys. Add to the ice cream maker and freeze. Those of you unaware.. BBC's (Banana Baileys Coladas) are a favorite drink of beachgoers at Magen's Bay, St Thomas.

Starting Over

Hey all

I'm starting to move my blog over here.. I really like Typepad, but I don't like paying for it. My basic and incredible laziness has me not posting, so, at least if it's free, I won't feel so bad about it. My typepad page should remain up for the next week or so, check it out before it's too late if you're interested http://davidharry.typepad.com.