What Did You Do With Your AeroGarden Today?

[Clovis Sangrail]

Look at this gorgeous Merlot --



And look at what it's going with --



Noms.

[LoveSalads]

KC has great steaks, somewhat pricey but very good Clovis Sangrail looks delicious.
I am a meat and potatoes kinda guy so that piqued my interest immediately.
Of course I have to have a salad of some sorts to go along with it. 
 

[Clovis Sangrail]

HyVee Bacon-wrapped top sirloin -- 5 ounces -- $2.99. Not filet, but not bad. I unwrap the bacon, cut it into chunks and fry it first, then saute the steak in the bacon grease. Sometimes I chop some shallots or scallions and saute them with the steak, then add a shot of brandy and a couple of glugs of A-1. Poor man's Steak Diane.

See if you can guess what dog ran a con on dad and snatched half of it.

Hint --
<<=====================

This dog has never, ever grabbed anything off a plate. He usually jut sits patiently at my side, waiting for whatever windfalls come his way. And he does pretty well that way.

But this time, the little huckster started giving me the 'I gotta go potty' sign. And he was pretty adamant, so I got up, half finished, and went to get my shoes to give him a quick potty break.

And when I came back into the room, he was slurping it up. 

"Get down from there, you jackanape!" I said, and he jumped down. 

There were two little pieces of steak left. He was even working on the lettuce and tomatoes and the blue cheese dressing.

"Come on," I said, holding the leash. "I thought you have to go potty."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just go get in my crate."

[lynnee]

That's hilarious, Clovis Sangrail! It's a testimonial that it smelled--and no doubt tasted--as good as it looks.

[Clovis Sangrail]

A busy Aerogarden day at Chez Clovis --

Had to cull one pod of Hatch chile because it wasn't sprouting and had gone moldy. But I've got two little guys growing in a Bounty.



lynnee , you were right -- All four of my Orange Hats germinated -- 





I moved one into a vacant Harvest and started a basil with it, and I rearranged the remaining three in the Bounty.





Only three of the eight AG heirloom greens I started sprouted, so I consolidated them into one Harvest with a pod of scallions and started 4 Vedikule romaine plus 2 scallions in another.







In other Lactuca Sativa news, my Merlots are 6 for 6, my Jericho romaine is 5 for 6, and my little Tennis Ball buttercrunch is also 6 for 6. 











And finally I started some herbs in a Harvest -- mint, dill, thyme, Italian parsley, and a mystery herb that may or may not be thyme.

Meanwhile, a Harvest Slim full of AG chive is looking bad. I'll probably have to pull them and plant my own chives.

Finally, a question for the philosophers among you -- If I buy a bunch of organic scallions and plant some of them in an Aerogarden, are they still organic when I harvest them?

[lynnee]

Clovis Sangrail, your scallions are probably still organic if you use only organic nutrients and supplements, and no pesticides. However, you won't be able to market them as organic without getting a certification (in California, at least).

The people who sell organic produce at California farmers' markets have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get certified.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Just the Aerogarden Juice. How organic is that?

And another question for anyone who cares to field it --

Does a pod get moldy because it didn't sprout, or does a pod not sprout because it got moldy?

[scarfguy]

Sept 17, 2024 18:29:37 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

Just the Aerogarden Juice. How organic is that?

And another question for anyone who cares to field it --

Does a pod get moldy because it didn't sprout, or does a pod not sprout because it got moldy?

Just a guess but I'd say the seed didn't sprout because it got moldy.

[maskedsonnet]

Sept 17, 2024 18:29:37 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

Just the Aerogarden Juice. How organic is that?

And another question for anyone who cares to field it --

Does a pod get moldy because it didn't sprout, or does a pod not sprout because it got moldy?

There's a national list of things that can and cannot be in products to be considered organic, and I didn't see any of the ingredients under the prohibited section. So, at least semi-organic? Although without certification from the feds I wouldn't say the feed is organic.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Ahoy, there, ye scurvy dogs. All hands on deck! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day 

So crank up the sea shanties, ya pack o' pilferin' picaroons -- Drunken Sailor by The Bards 

And break out the rum, ye scabrous landlubbers. (None of that lubberly white rum, either. We be talkin' old-fashioned Pusser's Gunpowder Proof made to the same recipe that the Royal Navy used for its daily grog ration. This stuff rolls out the bottle at 100 proof.

Here be a good grog recipe from the capt'n at Tasting History. Notice that ya don't see no ice cubes in it, and the sugar and lime be optional. This be the real thing for real pirates. Lubbers drinks Bumbo or a Painkiller.

So hoist the sails and shiver me timbers, ye festered carbuncles on a kracken's backside. Can ye think of a better day fer me Bounties to arrive? --



(That there be me first mate and Scourge of the Seven Seas Yogi, watchin' over me Bounties and givin' ya the stink eye. He would sail straight into the mouth of hell and back again fer ol' Cap'n Clovis.)

Y'aarrrr, me buckos.

[LoveSalads]

Sept 19, 2024 18:42:55 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

Ahoy, there, ye scurvy dogs. All hands on deck! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day 

So crank up the sea shanties, ya pack o' pilferin' picaroons -- Drunken Sailor by The Bards 

And break out the rum, ye scabrous landlubbers. (None of that lubberly white rum, either. We be talkin' old-fashioned Pusser's Gunpowder Proof made to the same recipe that the Royal Navy used for its daily grog ration. This stuff rolls out the bottle at 100 proof.

Here be a good grog recipe from the capt'n at Tasting History. Notice that ya don't see no ice cubes in it, and the sugar and lime be optional. This be the real thing for real pirates. Lubbers drinks Bumbo or a Painkiller.

So hoist the sails and shiver me timbers, ye festered carbuncles on a kracken's backside. Can ye think of a better day fer me Bounties to arrive? --



(That there be me first mate and Scourge of the Seven Seas Yogi, watchin' over me Bounties and givin' ya the stink eye. He would sail straight into the mouth of hell and back again fer ol' Cap'n Clovis.)

Y'aarrrr, me buckos.

Time to knock out a wall or turn everything sideways. I am going to see if the chives and mint will sprout from this bounty box. If not I will hound AG till I get them to grow. Never heard of International  pirate day before that's awesome. We should all go sailing on the 19th and find some treasure. The mold and the seed. Hmm kinda like the chicken and the egg, you have to have the chicken so it can lay an egg or do you ?  Nice catch for pirate day.

[slw]

I'm finally getting some gardens cranked back up after a few months' hiatus.   Today I planted lettuce, 2 types of cucumbers, 2 varieties of tomatoes, banana peppers, bok choy, tatsoi, and some green onion starts.   Time to get back into the swing. 

[Clovis Sangrail]

Sept 20, 2024 21:54:01 GMT -5 slw said:

I'm finally getting some gardens cranked back up after a few months' hiatus.   Today I planted lettuce, 2 types of cucumbers, 2 varieties of tomatoes, banana peppers, bok choy, tatsoi, and some green onion starts.   Time to get back into the swing. 

Lots of planting. I know you haven't really been gone gone, but welcome back, anyway.

And today at Chez Clovis --

Terminated a Harvest Slim full of Merlot. I got two more gallon bags of Merlot, then I cleaned the unit and replanted with six more Merlot pods. That Merlot is good stuff.

Terminated a Slim full of AG Chives, then cleaned the unit and replanted with chive seeds I got from Amazon. 

In other news -- 

My free Vedikule romaine planted only three days ago is sprouting. This may turn out to be some good stuff.



The Tennis Ball is still 6 for 6 (Yes, there is a baby plant peeking out of that #5 pod) --



Slims with Merlot and Jericho are doing well and should be ready for harvest pretty soon --



And the 3 surviving AG greens are thriving -- 




And from the food desk -- I made Love Salads' Cucumber Salad. It is good stuff, too. I used some Good Seasons Italian that I had left over from marinating some chicken breasts, and I probably used a bit more onion because I had a huge Vidalia that I only used half of. And I ever tried out the McCormick Salad Supreme, which was tasty and not overly salty like some seasoning mixes. 




When I got it done, I tasted it and thought -- This stuff would go good in a wrap.

And here's that wrap, cucumber salad along with some hummus, some olives, a bit of feta, and some rather mediocre Kroger Private Selection Tzatziki that I won't buy again. 



Thanks for recipe, LoveSalads .

[slw]

I noticed some algae/mold forming on a couple of banana pepper sponges.  They have only been planted for 4 days so that is odd.  Anyway I scraped as much off as I could then poured some food-grade peroxide on the sponges.  The seeds haven't sprouted but they are looking swollen so I hope they will be OK. 

[LoveSalads]

Sept 24, 2024 12:31:31 GMT -5 slw said:

I noticed some algae/mold forming on a couple of banana pepper sponges.  They have only been planted for 4 days so that is odd.  Anyway I scraped as much off as I could then poured some food-grade peroxide on the sponges.  The seeds haven't sprouted but they are looking swollen so I hope they will be OK. 

I usually get at least 10 days before the white fuzzes cover the hole. That was quick. A  toothpick and walaa 

[slw]

Sept 24, 2024 13:17:59 GMT -5 LoveSalads said:

I usually get at least 10 days before the white fuzzes cover the hole. That was quick. A  toothpick and walaa 

This isn't the white fuzzies; it's the dark green algae.   Weird because I'm using Aerogarden sponges and I don't usually have a problem with them. 

[slw]

Well, I figured out my algae mystery.   I put nutes in the "startup" water.  I should have waited to add plant food until I had seedlings sprouted.  Duh. 

[Clovis Sangrail]

Sept 26, 2024 23:41:37 GMT -5 slw said:

Well, I figured out my algae mystery.   I put nutes in the "startup" water.  I should have waited to add plant food until I had seedlings sprouted.  Duh. 

So have I been doing this wrong? I have been chucking in a capful of AG juice when I start a new garden because all the AG docs say to do that.

Better as a standard practice to wait for sprouts before I  feed?

Will I get better sprout percentage? I seem to frequently lose one to mold. I have one Harvest that's 0-for-12, but I figured that was just bad AG pods.

[scarfguy]

I usually put 4ml of AG nutes in the water at startup with no issues.

I did, however, recently use Fox Farm Grow Big fertilizer instead of the AG nutes and I got lots of algae growth!  So, I think the AG nutes must contain something that suppresses algae and fungi growth.

[slw]

Sept 27, 2024 9:19:37 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

So have I been doing this wrong? I have been chucking in a capful of AG juice when I start a new garden because all the AG docs say to do that.

Better as a standard practice to wait for sprouts before I  feed?

Will I get better sprout percentage? I seem to frequently lose one to mold. I have one Harvest that's 0-for-12, but I figured that was just bad AG pods.

No, you're not doing anything wrong.  Some people (I'm looking at you, "Aerogarden Experiments Guy") say to hold off on adding nutes until the seeds have sprouted.   I've done it both ways and it does seem like I have less algae in the plain water startup, but either way is fine.  I think there are so many other variables (water quality, temperature, etc.) that it's hard to quantify.