Aerogarden add on for Salad Lovers

[LoveSalads]

Get a *lazy susan* for easy access to all of your lettuce. Not a help for the farm
garden but, most other Aerogardens can spin. Be careful not to cut any cords back there.
I cut mine like doing my hedges , sides , front and, back. The lazy susan makes it very easy.


20240107_200139 

[lynnee]

Nice idea!

[Clovis Sangrail]

What a great idea! And those look so nummy.

I, too, am a lover of greens. I have two of those slim, in-line Harvests growing nothing but lettuce varieties. I am trying to find the equilibrium point where I produce enough greens to meet my daily consumption requirements. I'm hoping the magin number is two, but I'll bet it will turn out to be at least three.

I am interested in your hedge-trimming harvest technique. Is it just kind of like a haircut -- take about a third off all the way around?

In my first plantings, I trimmed outer leaves to harvest, but I ended up with these little lettuce trees that looked like a primordial forest. 

Does the hedge-trimming approach give better or longer yield?

[LoveSalads]

Jan 8, 2024 19:03:27 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

What a great idea! And those look so nummy.

I, too, am a lover of greens. I have two of those slim, in-line Harvests growing nothing but lettuce varieties. I am trying to find the equilibrium point where I produce enough greens to meet my daily consumption requirements. I'm hoping the magin number is two, but I'll bet it will turn out to be at least three.

I am interested in your hedge-trimming harvest technique. Is it just kind of like a haircut -- take about a third off all the way around?

In my first plantings, I trimmed outer leaves to harvest, but I ended up with these little lettuce trees that looked like a primordial forest. 

Does the hedge-trimming approach give better or longer yield?

I have 3 bountys and, 1 harvest for my greens. I buy an ounce of seeds at a time. This saves me alot as the ounce lasts me a year .It is
a mix and very tasty. Mix contains: Vivian (green romaine), Silvia (red romaine), Red Salad Bowl (red leaf), Black Seeded Simpson (green leaf), Summer Bibb (Bibb leaf).
I have individual types of lettuce also and will grow pods of those together with
the mix I use.
I load the grow sponge up with seeds and don't thin these out. I have noticed when planting all spots in your garden several pods do not grow as fast and produce very little. To me seems like a waste of seeds and sponges. I use the same
seeds so I guess it just works that way. For now I average every other spot and seems to work well. I start all the spots and then, spilt it between 2 gardens. I like salads


For trimming when I am done it has a flat top and vertical sides all the way around. I only take about 1/3 or less at a time from 1 or 2 gardens.
I usually get 4-6 weeks of harvest from a grow before it starts getting bitter or tough. I do not know if that is considered a long yield time but works for me. Usually Takes 3-4 weeks max before first harvest so, I plant new sponges every 3-4 weeks for a constant supply.


This is just how I grow my greens hope it gives you a few more ideas.

[Clovis Sangrail]

LoveSalads -- Thanks for all the info. It sounds like you are doing exactly what I want to end up doing, so I will be putting you on 'Follow'.

I could live on tossed salad and scrambled eggs, Caesar salads (no or minimal carbs in Caesar dressing), blue cheese salad with steak (no carbs in blue cheese dressing, either), and my guilty pleasure -- salad topped with crumbled blue cheese and Catalina dressing (does have some carbs, but like I said -- guilty pleasure.)

So in my quest to get these Aerogardens to have some impact on the grocery bill, I will be trying to determine optimum gardens to ensure constant harvest.

I started with one Harvest, but it was soon obvious I would need at least 2, so I got another Harvest. Then Slims went on sale, so I bought two of those and switched the lettuce production to them. They do seem to provide better light because of the inline arrangement.

I have thus far used AG seed pods because as a new AG guy, I went on a pod buying binge. The Salad Green seed pod kit, the Salad Bar seed pod kit, custom boxes of AG romaine pods and AG Parris Island cos, plus the Harvest Slims came with Heirloom Salad kits. Some of these did well and some not so well. Some outright sucked (Talkin' about you, Heirloom Salad kit.)

All were expensive.

So I have acquired some nice lettuce seeds and will be going the 'roll your own' route, although I will still use out the AG pods little by little.

Goal is to be able to get a continuous harvest of lettuce to produce 2 salads per 1 person per 1 day. I have 2 Harvests doing lettuce now. I will add others if I have to. 

What is the Salads per person per day output of 3 Bounty gardens and a Harvest?

I am also trying to derive the optimum arrangement of chives and scallions, because I like a little greenery in my scrambled eggs. Chives are more sophisticated, but scallions produce better. (Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions.)

Once I get the lettuce and the chives/scallions sorted, I'll deal with tomatoes and peppers. I also caught Seed Pod Acquisition syndrome for tomato and pepper pods. I would like some tomatoes for those salads. 

Thanks again for the excellent suggestions.

And to keep this on topic -- I am now away from my gardens for a couple of weeks, but when I return, I will be looking into lazy Susans. (And I expect to return to some full gardens.)

[LoveSalads]

Clovis Sangrail I would say an average of one good sized salad a day. Very hard to say for sure so many variables. I can go 3 or 4 days without a salad and then a family member and myself have a monster salad. And then a few days later we both have another 1.  After a few weeks of mowing  my garden  slows somewhat then will pick back up or not. Then is time to tear that one down for compost and move on to the next one. It works pretty well for me but never quite the same. 

I just enjoy eating healthy good food. I do not think there is a great ROI (return on investment) on any of these machines but ,nothing like a great salad with your favorite toppings  and a bunch of cherry toms thrown on top. That is my pleasure and what I consider my ROI.  I guess I am just an Aerogarden nut like a few others here.

Finally looked up how to tag someone in a post. Thx Shawn

[lynnee]

For me, the ROI on growing AG lettuce is the absolute fresh taste. I never buy retail lettuce now. I also don't waste head lettuce like I used to.

[scarfguy]

For me, I think the biggest ROI of Aerogardening is the diversity of varieties you can grow.  Most grocery stores carry only a couple varieties of lettuce.  I can buy seeds for hundreds of rare and unusual varieties.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Although I am trying to find ways to get the unit cost down and maximize the impact on the grocery bill, I think my best ROI will eventually be that I am eating better.

If I have a supply of fresh lettuce and chives and scallions and basil and tomatoes at hand, I am less likely to order a pizza or run to McDonald's. 

I'll make tossed salad and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I'll have a big salad for dinner. 

They are nutritionally better, plus they do not gut-bomb me as bad as fast food. (But I do still like a Runza every now and then, and an In-and-Out when I'm where I can get them.)

And that impact is already happening. I'm eating better, and I do not have half bags of lettuce turning to goo in the refrigerator because the lettuce is growing right in from of my face in the living room, crying out 'No, no, no. Eat me" when I'm bring up Doordash on the computer.

I just need to maximize production of lettuce and chives and scallions. (Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions.)

As for the initial price of the gardens -- I kind of look at those like the railroads saw laying track in the 19th century. Necessary and expensive, and they will take a long time to recoup their value. But hopefully, these will help me live longer to see that day.

[pfunnyjoy]

The lazy susan is a great idea! I've done something similar, but perhaps not quite as good. My old Aerogardens just slide around on my tables, so I just pull them forward, turn them as needed. The new Bountys, not so much, they must have rubber feet on the bottom as they are difficult to move!

So I just put cheap plastic placemats under and now I just tug the placemats and slide the Bounty models around the way I like.

[lynnee]

I put plastic lunch trays under my Bounties. They're quite cheap on Amazon.

[LoveSalads]

Jan 14, 2024 0:06:49 GMT -5 lynnee said:

I put plastic lunch trays under my Bounties. They're quite cheap on Amazon.

Awesome idea. I use garbage bags and towels on top of that to protest my dresser. I think I will look up the appropriate  size and order some. I don't use anything for the bountys I grow salad in, probably good for there also.

[Clovis Sangrail]

And those of you who live in snowy climes should remember to order a couple extra cafeteria trays for personal use.

They make excellent toboggans. Totally un-steerable. 

[slw]

The ROI of AGs for me can be summed up in patlab's tagline...  "Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!"   I will never grow enough food in Aerogardens to justify the investment, but the total relaxation of putzing with plants never gets old. 

[pfunnyjoy]

Lunch trays sound like a great idea, especially if you need to protect the surface under the garden. My tables are basic resin-top folding tables, they've not had protection previously, and don't really need it. But I'll remember this in case I need to put a garden on a different surface.

As for growing enough veggies, I think the Aerogardens can make a significant contribution, at least with greens, like lettuce, chard, Tatsoi, etc... My first try at Italian dandelions has been less than 100% success, but I can see from the one happy plant that they do grow quickly and well, and I would be flush with dandelion greens if I had six plants at the same stage!

The five Tatsoi plants are super producers, as long as you "Feed me, Seymour!" I'm not sure I'd do two gardens of Tatsoi at once again, LOL!

There's just me and hubby, and hubby hardly ever bothers to "fix" veggies, preferring to grab microwaveables. So I can definitely make a dent in what I need in the way of greens with the Aerogardens. I'm totally about the food aspect. I also love that I can do different varieties of greens. You'd never find Tatsoi at my grocery store! 

I've always liked growing a bit of food, so it's a hobby too, but I definitely tend to steer away from plants that aren't especially productive. If I had space, I'd probably consider one flower Aerogarden though, as I do like flowers! Which reminds me ... need to shake my tomato!

[scarfguy]

Jan 18, 2024 15:44:06 GMT -5 pfunnyjoy said:

though, as I do like flowers! Which reminds me ... need to shake my tomato!

Shake that tomato, pfunnyjoy !

getyarn.io/yarn-clip/3a06e783-daff-4c93-bea9-1d04d8ec5d21

[pfunnyjoy]

The bit of yellow I saw on the tomato last night is a full-fledged BLOOM today! With another soon to follow! I shook the tomato, LOL!

[Clovis Sangrail]

Jan 16, 2024 22:45:15 GMT -5 LoveSalads said:

Jan 14, 2024 0:06:49 GMT -5 lynnee said:

I put plastic lunch trays under my Bounties. They're quite cheap on Amazon.

Awesome idea. I use garbage bags and towels on top of that to protest my dresser. I think I will look up the appropriate  size and order some. I don't use anything for the bountys I grow salad in, probably good for there also.

Reference cafeteria trays --

In case anyone is ordering, I might be able to save you some measuring.

A 16 inch by 12 inch cafeteria tray will fit a Harvest (including Harvest Slim) just fine. 





And it will fit a Sprout if you turn it longways. (In fact, it will fit two Sprouts side by side if you turn it longways.)



But a 16 by 12 is just a tiny bit too short for a Bounty, so it would be better to go with the 18 by 14.

I ordered mine from Amazon -- 16 by 12 Cafeteria Tray and 18 by 14 Cafeteria Tray

And as one who made it through 16 years of undergraduate studies with no head injuries, I would recommend the larger size for traying. 

[lisatnp]

I bought the 3000 seed pack of lettuce from amazon ( it was 5.99) and i think that should be enough lettuce for me for a couple years