maximizing efficiency, oh yeah

So, yeah, I've been happy to go out every day or two, and see that my plants are making progress...The tomatoes, beans, and snow peas have put out their first flowers, etc. etc.

BUT, I just wanted to post a picture of what can be done, by even the most inexperienced gardeners (a.k.a. moi) when conditions are optimized. Last summer, I grew basil hydroponically in a greenhouse.

Ugh, I miss this

The hydroponic system was SUPER simple. I just kept the roots suspended in an aerated nutrient solution. The whole thing was built using things you can find in standard hardware and pet stores. Basically, a bin, an air pump, some tubing, and a couple air stones. The hardest things to acquire are the Rockwool cubes the seeds are started in, and the nutrient solution; both of these things can be found at any hydroponics store. You can actually make your own nutrient solution, but it requires purchasing a bunch of chemicals, and it's probably easier to just buy it ready-made. If you can't get your hands on any Rockwool cubes (they look like that pink cotton candy-like insulation stuff), you can always make little mesh/net baskets and fill them with gravel. You just need something to give the plants some stability. You know, so they don't keel over. Anyhow, blah, blah, blah, I assume most people aren't interested in actually growing anything hydroponically; I just wanted to demonstrate how eeeasy it is, and what a huge difference it makes to have such an efficient nutrient/air delivery system.

healthy roots!

I literally had more basil than I could use. I made TONS of pesto for my whole family, gave bags full of basil away to anyone who would take it, and froze half a dozen containers full of a chopped basil/olive oil mixture for later use. I could cut back half of the basil, and before I knew it, it was all back. And such beautiful big leaves. They grew as big as my palms! And it was SO low maintenance. Once or twice a week I would drop by to top off the water/nutrient solution...Honestly, I only added more nutrient solution a few times over the summer. And the water level could drop to pretty much zero without any impact whatsoever on the health of the plants.

Yeah, and of course, it's important not to forget that a lot of this is also attributable to the fact that all this was happening in a greenhouse. Not a great greenhouse, mind you, but still. It was warm, it was sheltered from the  storms (which I've found basil is very sensitive to!), and there was plenty of light. My backyard, on the other hand, is lucky to get a few hours of sunlight a day, and is plagued by frequent bad weather. Siiigh. Alas, this summer, my backyard is what I've got to work with.