GardenWatch

Friday, June 30, 2023

Single Large vs Several Small - A hydroponic comparison

 There is a fundamental difference when comparing the two prevalent philosophies of large scale indoor gardens.  The Aerogarden approach is to created a collection of smaller, separate gardens with correspondingly smaller nutrient and water basins.  A larger garden is created by adding and/or stacking additional individual units.  The other approach, used by the Rise Garden, Gardyn, Tower garden and other similar units is to create a single much larger unit, typically on several levels, or in several vertical towers, but all controlled by a single basin of nutrients, and a single processer timer that controls the lights and pump.

  • Cost:  In the end, the two approaches may end up costing the same.  A large Rise garden or a tower garden costs about $1000.  If you bundle together two or three Farm Aerogardens you'll reach the same price.  One of the differences is that with the Aerogarden approach, you can slowly build your system over time, and incur the costs as you are able, at your own discretion.  With the single large gardens, even if they have payment options over time, you still have to commit to a very large purchase price all at once.
  • Size.  One of the failure points, believe it or not, is the overabundance of produce.  In any indoor garden, as it reaches its peak productivity, it can often produce more vegetables than a family can consume unless they plan their planting very carefully.  When the production of the garden matches the family's needs, gardening is rewarding, but when the gardener gets overwhelmed by more produce than they can use, gardening becomes a chore that leads to neglect.  
    • An overgrown garden starts to decay in various ways, including restricting airflow that invites disease and bugs, plants that bolt or go to seed unnoticed, water reservoirs that run dry because they are neglected.  Gardens are unkempt, and not the elegant artwork that they once were.
    • A set of smaller gardens allows the gardener to dial in the correct size of planting that will perfectly fit the family's needs without overproducing.  Individual units can be brought online or taken out of service without bringing the whole system down.
    • On the other hand, each garden needs individual attention to check water and nutrient levels, prune away dead leaves, replant crops.  The more gardens you have, the more that individual attention multiplies.   A single large garden allows you to check the nutrient and water levels for your entire production a single timer.
  • Customization.  When you have an indoor garden made of individual machines, it allows you to handle individual batches of crops with precise care.  Individual gardens tend to be treated like individual raised garden beds, dedicated to a particular crop.  Large machines are not so easily divided up into discrete gardening sections and the result tends to be a disorganized hodge-podge of whatever plants strike the gardener's fancy.  This tends away from focused food production and into the novelty plant of the week.
  • In one section, you have mature tomato plants that are currently flowering and fruiting.  In another section you have brand new seedlings, in a third section you have newly sown seeds that haven't emerged yet.  How do you balance the nutrients for all three sections within a single reservoir?  With the single large garden, you can't make these kinds of fine tunings; you have to go with one single nutrient solution that circulates throughout the system.  With the Several Small approach, you can customize each growing unit to the plants within it, at the stage of the life cycle that they are at.
  • A similar situation is true for the level of the lights.  Typically with a large garden, the lights are at a fixed distance from the plants.  This often results in spindly growth and leggy seedlings, while the mature kale next to them soaks up all the light.  With individual gardens, you can adjust the light height to the specific crop growing in each garden.
  • Large gardens typically have a shared nutrient solution, held in a common reservoir.  This leads to other challenges as well.  Because of the large reservoir, it is difficult to change the water.  Actually performing a water change is a major undertaking, with buckets of water being carried back and forth, with the resultant nuisance of spilling.  Because of this, a complete water change is very seldom completed, and instead most people simply fill up the reservoir to replace the water that is lost.
    • You also have the challenge of mixing the nutrients appropriately for such a large volume, with the need to get the concentration exact or risk burning or starving your plants.  This challenge is compounded when you complete a partial water change and the math gets more complex.  Then, because of the large volume of solution and the varied environments of that same water, you must carefully balance the pH to avoid a build up of nutrients.  Any disease or unwanted substance that gets into the water is immediately shared with all the plants in the system.
    • With the Several Small approach managing the reservoir and nutrient solution is a much easier affair.  First, a complete water change is as easy as emptying a bowl into the sink.  Because of the small reservoir size, complete water changes are easy, not particularly messy, and can be performed routinely on a monthly basis if necessary.  If something is out of balance with the nutrients or with water quality, you are never more than a quick rinse away from a fresh start with a new solution.  The water size is small, so nutrients are simple to add with a few capfuls.  
  • Several small gardens can be easily located in various places in your house.  Large gardens typically have to have a dedicated large area in which they reside.  This is a major footprint in your house and has to be planned as a focal point.  The resulting light can often dominate a space like a kitchen or dining room and can be overbearing in a bedroom.  It should also be relatively near to water to facilitate the large water changes required.  With several small gardens, they can fit on a counter top, at the end of a bookshelf, on a small table that can be placed anywhere.  The lights for individual units, while bright, aren't necessarily more than a table lamp
  • Pests.  When a large unit attracted unwanted insects like fungus gnats or aphids, they will immediately spread throughout the garden, since all the plants are in close proximity.  With individual small gardens, the infestation can often be contained to a single garden, which is mobile and can be isolated.  That individual garden can then be treated aggressively without subjecting other crops to the same treatment.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

A Hydroponic Homestead Timeline

 

A Homestead Timeline

The following timeline presents a way to start up an indoor garden with a minimum of time investment and complication.  It is organized in this way so you aren't overwhelmed with starting a dozen gardens on the same day and monitoring their progress all at once.

The expectation is that the recommended steps will be completed near the beginning of the week, preferably on the initial weekend.  Saturday and Sunday begin the week.

This gives the basic outlines of each step.  However, there are numerous other fine details that you should incorporate at the same time, but I'm assuming that you are familiar with the basics of using an AeroGarden or other indoor hydroponic garden system.

This system requires a minimum of a 2-tray microgreen set-up, 3 basic indoor gardens, and 1 larger indoor garden.  In addition, you will need the seeds to plant them:  Lettuce, Bok choi, Basil, Cherry Tomatoes, and dried Lentils.

 Introduction

I have found that the key to the indoor winter garden's success is establishing the practice of eating what you plant.  For me, this routine is based on the weekly salad routine.  Each week, you should put a significant salad on the menu using as much of what you grow as possible, but supplementing from the grocery store where necessary.  Choose one day of the week to be your salad bar and you'll always have an use for your garden

If you don't have an occasion to use your produce during the week, at least you will have one healthy salad that will require the output from your greens.  If lettuce isn't picked regularly, it will start to bolt, so you always need a way to use that lettuce to keep it healthy.   Look for opportunities to harvest early lettuce greens and baby bok choi. Later, add a few basil or dill leaves.  When the tomatoes and peppers begin to fruit, slice a few and add as a garnish.  

 

Week 1.  Microgreens and Salad Menu

If the Weekly salad is the key to the indoor garden, then the key to the weekly salad is the microgreens garden.  Microgreens are typically ready to eat in 7 to 10 days.  This means you will always have something ready add to your salad every week, even if you can only add it to a bagged salad from the grocery store.  

Growing microgreens means that you establish a routine of harvesting something each weekend.  It gets you in the habit of checking and maintaining your garden regularly, because microgreens don't last forever.  They need to be harvested when they are young and succulent, before they get too leggy and overgrown.  Once that routine is established, it is natural to expand that care to the rest of your indoor garden.

This week, 

1. Go to the grocery store and buy a mixed salad.  Add some radishes, or an apple, sliced thinly.  Finish it with some deli sliced chicken or ham and garnish with the salad dressing of your choice.  This will be your dinner for tonight.

While at the grocery store, pick up a bag of dried lentils or black eyed peas, or mungo beans.  Even navy (white) beans will sprout readily if nothing else is available.  A 1-pound bag of beans will last a long time as a source of microgreen seeds.

2. At home, set up your microgreens station. I like to have two bays for my seeds.  Each week, harvest one bay and use it in your salad or add it to a soup.  To harvest, use scissors to chop the sprouts off the seed and rootlets.  (Any potential pathogen will be confined to the seed itself and will not be found in the green sprout above.) 

Measure out the volume of seeds that fill your trays so you can easily re-seed each week. Then re-seed the harvested side while the other keeps growing a little longer.  Next week, harvest the older bay and maintain the rotation.

 

Week 2. Lettuce and Hardy Greens

Plant Lettuce in a 9-pod basic system.  If available, plant two different lettuce varieties so you can compare growth, taste, longevity.   Use 4 pods for lettuce and 2 pods for the aromatic of your choice.  Do not add nutrients at this point and cover the empty pods with spacers.

Plant Bok Choi in a second system.  The size can be any that you have.  Plant them in about half the pods you have available;  in a 9 to 12 pod system, plant them in 5 pods.  Cover the empty pods with spacers.  As before, do not add nutrients yet.

Most lettuce and cabbage will sprout within the first week.  Watch the pods and make a note of the day when the germinated seedlings first appear.  This is the kind of info that will be different from what you can find on the seed packet and is the first information to write down in your gardening journal. 

Always end the week with your weekly salad menu, harvesting your first tray of microgreens and re-seeding.  This will be your first harvest from your indoor garden, so enjoy your quick win.  Add the sprouts to a store bought salad mix and have it for dinner.

 

Week 3. Start Tomato and Pepper

After 7 days, the plants in both systems should have germinated with visible sprouts.  If any have not, it is time to examine them closely to determine why.  Check for the growth of mold/algae that is inhibiting the seeds.  Also, check the seed packet for the expected germination period.  Many will say 7-10 days, but some can take longer.  The front of  your garden will likely have the number of days planted so you can compare where you are in the timeline and consider re-planting new seeds

In those systems where some have sprouted, its time to add nutrients.  Give only half of the recommended nutrients to these newly growing seedlings.

Remove the domes, when the seedlings touch the tops.  Set them aside to be used later.  Very carefully help any sprouts that are stuck under the labels.

It is time to bring a third system online.  This will be the garden for peppers and tomatoes.  If you have a 6 or 9 pod system, then you will plant one of each.  Larger Farm systems can accommodate 2 or 3 plants.  Follow the standard process for seeding the required number of pods, cover with domes, don't add nutrients yet. Tomato and pepper seeds take a while to germinate so prepare to wait for activity here, but this is also the reason to get this started early.

Keep up the salad menu routine and continue harvesting the second tray of microgreen sprouts.  This tray will have been growing for 2 weeks, so it will definitely need to be brought in and re-seeded to keep the harvests rolling.

 

Week 4.  Aromatics

On day 15, gardens 1 and 2 will report that they needs nutrients.  Add the full recommended amount, and this time hit the "Plant food added" button.  This will bring the total nutrient concentration up to the standard and will last for the next 14 days.

Thin all your sprouts to one per pod. You should have two systems planted and growing well.

 Start garden 4.  Plant basil and dill in this garden, using about 5 pods and following the nutrient protocol.

Maintain your levels. For every garden, begin a regular maintenance routine once a week to keep it in top condition:

  • Check water levels and refill even if it isn't at the minimum
  • Check nutrient levels and add according to the schedule.  
  • Evaluate if you need to raise the lights. Lettuce likes to be cool so keep the lights at least 4 inches away from the top of the leaves.
  • Trim any branches that are crowding, or escaping from under the lights.
  • Remove dead leaves.  Clean the surface of the garden.
  • Harvest at least one leaf from every plant, and up to 1/3rd to be used in the weekly salad.
     

Tomato and pepper seeds may take longer to germinate, so be patient, but look for germination.

Always return to the Salad Menu, and rotate your microgreens.  Try adding the sprouts to a soup, this time to see how you like the variety.


Week 5

By this week, your lettuce will have been growing for 28 days.  This week it is time to make your first harvest of lettuce, taking the outer 1 or 2 leaves from each plant.  Clip a few leaves from the herbs in your garden as well, harvest half the microgreens, and enjoy your first fully homestead salad.

Lettuce and Bok choi gardens will report they need nutrients.  Add full strength according to the nutrient directions. 

Add 5 ml or 1 capful of Hydrogen peroxide to the basin. Keep the water level topped off.  The H2O2 will ward against the roots developing disease.  This isn't necessary when the seeds are just starting, but as they hang down into the water reservoir all the time, it helps to keep them clear.

Tomato and pepper seedlings will begin to appear.  Add half strength nutrients when you see the seed leaves.  Remove domes when the leaves touch them

Rotate the microgreen trays.

 

Week 6. 

  • Weekly Maintenance   (see week 4)
  • Weekly Harvest

If the bok choi has been growing more slowly, it may finally be ready for its first harvest.  Gather 1-2 leaves from each plant for your cooking.  Identify a menu item, a stir fry or soup, that you can make each week that will require your bok choi.

It's also time to revisit the salad gardens and harvest what's ready, 1 leaf per plant.  Harvest the rest of the microgreens and replant.  Remember that harvesting is just as important a maintenance task as all the others.  A well harvested garden is healthier and easier to maintain.

Evaluate.  Evaluate the maintenance requirements of your existing indoor gardens and decide if you can support additional gardens.  Consider starting:

a root vegetable garden with turnips, radish, and beets.

a flower garden, with petunias or dwarf marigolds, both of which grow well in indoor gardens.


Week 7.

Harvest lettuce, basil, and the rest for your weekly salad.  This can be a more aggressive harvest if the lettuce is growing vigorously.  Lettuce that isn't harvested will flower and go to seed sooner than if it is clipped regularly.


Week 8. Harvest and Maintain.

At this stage, your gardens should be in regular maintenance and harvest mode.  At this time you can turn your attention to the tomato and pepper plants, which may be getting large enough to set flowers.  

  • Actively pollinate any flowers you find.
  • Trim excessive leaf growth to keep the plants contained and focused on fruiting.


Week 9.  

  • Weekly Maintenance   (see week 4)
  • Weekly Harvest
  • Weekly Salad

Deeper Clean.  After two months you should consider changing the water in your gardens.  Remove the top and set into a plastic container.  Then simply drain all the water into the sink and rinse the tank.

While you have the top off, look at the roots to see if they are growing into each other or getting tangled with the pump or water gauge.  Using scissors, cut the two root masses apart from each other.  Trim the bottom fourth of the roots that are touching the bottom of the tank. 

Add H2O2 to the basin and fill with clean water.

Add nutrients following the program

 

Week 10.

  • Weekly Maintenance   (see week 4)
  • Weekly Harvest
  • Weekly Salad

Note that the tomatoes are only about 50 days old at this point.


Week 11.

  • Weekly Maintenance   (see week 4)
  • Weekly Harvest
  • Weekly Salad


Week 12.

Once the lettuce has been growing for 12 weeks it may show signs of bolting.  Some varieties will continue to produce for several more weeks, while others may be about done at this point.  Keep an eye on both the lettuce and cabbage and document their life span in your garden journal.

Create a Seed pot kit with 9 baskets, sponges, stickers, and domes.  Have this kit pre-assembled and ready to go, so that you can minimize down-time when a garden needs to be replaced. 

You should see tomato flowers and some peppers may begin to flower as well.  Tap the stalks to assist in pollination.

Tomatoes may be ready in the next two weeks, while peppers probably need 4 more weeks to mature.  When they are ready, add them to the weekly salad and keep them harvested.

 

This is the end of the first cycle.

At this point, any of your plants may begin to bolt or may stop growing vigorously and you should consider replacing them.  Other plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, will continue to grow if trimmed and harvested regularly.

When plants actually bolt or slow down,  return to Week 1.  Renew and Replant each of the indoor gardens in the order given, changing the water and washing out the bowls to give them a fresh start.

Alternatively, if you have another aerogarden, use it to start seeds for the replacements.  When the existing plants go to flower, remove them and replace with the prepared seedlings.





Monday, June 5, 2023

Hydroponic Homestead

 Many people view their aerogardens or hydorponic units as novelties.  "Isn't it interesting that I can grow lettuce or basil indoors, under artificial conditions..."

But how well does the system perform when you want to rely on it to provide you with nutrition during the long winter when your outdoor garden has been put to bed?  I want to find an answer to that overall question and ask a few more along the way.  

  • Can I grow a winter indoor garden that will significantly supplement my food supply?
  • What investment in equipment is required to make an appreciable return?
  • what species and variety should be planted and in what garden?

 With this goal in mind, we have 4 steps to prepare a indoor homestead garden:

1.  What to plant.  There are 5 distinct types of plants that should produce well in an indoor garden.  In addition, there are specific varieties that work with our hydroponic units

2.  What equipment do we need to support the plants.  Here we talk about the kinds of indoor hydroponic gardens we can choose from and how many we need.

3.  What are we going to do with the produce, once its ready to harvest.

Plant Types

With the indoor hydroponic garden, I like to identify four types of edible plants you can grow.  A fifth type is also key to success but its not what you expect.

1. Lettuce grows easily and prolifically in hydroponic systems. It seems like having at least one garden dedicated to a Salad Bar is always a good investment.  If you intend to implement a hydroponic homestead, the easiest place to begin is to grow and eat lots of lettuce.  These are reliable and typically trouble free producers.

Plants typically take 30 days to reach productivity, and then may last for another 3 months with regular harvests of the outer leaves.  One major benefit is that while lettuce typically doesn't grow well in the summer heat, your indoor garden can grow lettuce year round.

Varieties that work best for me are Little Caesar, Buttercrunch, and Parris Island Cos.

 Lettuce will grow well in almost any indoor garden. Ideally, you could use smart system such as a 9-pod Bounty basic, with 4 lettuce plants and two aromatics such as basil or dill.  Lettuce doesn't require very strong lights, so a 20 to 25 watt system would be adequate.  Stronger light sources may actually bleach the leaves or burn the tips from excessive heat.

If you need to feed more people, I would replicate this with a less sophisticated and less expensive system such as the Idoo 12.  

After 30 days, I can reliably harvest one main meal salad a week for the next 3 months, accented by a few basil leaves.


2. Sturdy Leafy Greens.  These are the plants that add a solid crunch to your stir fries and add volume to your soups.  These are greens that need to be cooked before eating but provide a more substantial bite.  

Like lettuce, sturdy greens like Bok Choi do well with moderate light and don't like the high brightness of high wattage light systems like the Bounty Elite.  You will definitely get bleached and withered leaves, burned leaf edges with too bright a system.  Favor systems in the 20 - 30 watt range.

I use Bok  Choi varieties : Shanghai Green Choi, Burpee Pak Choi, and Bok Choi Milk.

In addition to bok choi, I also have had success with Purslane, Perpetual Spinach, and Dwarf Siberian Kale as sturdy greens.

After you've got the salad greens unit producing well, it makes sense to add the more substantial greens to a second unit. They may take slightly longer to begin harvesting, 30 - 50 days, and after that plan on a regular harvest every two weeks of the outer leaves.


3. Herbs and Aromatics.  These are the plants like basil, dill, cilantro, chives, and parsley that will grow well in an aerogarden but you don't need to plant them for volume as much as for taste.  If you've been using a few of these in the salad garden, you may decide you want to use these more frequently in your cooking.  These are the plants that will supplement the taste of the salad from your lettuce, and will accent other dishes.  You may only need to harvest them a sprig at a time, unless you are making pesto.

Look for Sweet Basil but also consider Piccolino Basil, Dwarf Greek Basil, Spicy Globe Basil.

For other herbs, consider Bouquet Dill, and Arugula Rocket.   Obviously, avoid anything with Gigantic  or Mammoth or Monstreaux in the variety name.

Aromatics can truly be grown in any size of indoor garden.  Basil can grow robustly and easily exceed the garden where it's planted.   Dill tends to grow tall and overtop the lights.  In both cases, the solution is aggressive harvesting. Herbs will respond to brighter light levels and longer daylength with greater production.  However, if you are overloaded with too much basil, shortening the day length will help moderate their growth.  The Bounty Basic, with 35 watt lights would be good for this group.

 

4. Fruiting plants.  My fourth category contains plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers.  These have different growing habits and space requirements than the others.  In the indoor garden, they may take 90 days to produce edible fruit, but once mature may continue to produce for a long time.  With the yellow cherry tomatoes from Aerogarden, I was harvesting at least a half pint every week.

The internet is replete with examples of people growing tomatoes in a 6 pod Harvest but many find greater success in the larger units.  Fruiting plants require the highest light levels available, including the Bounty Elite and the Farm units.

At this point you are ready for a larger system that can grow fruit-producing plants, like a Farm12XL  With its larger grow deck, bigger reservoir and a full service smart system, you can plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers with confidence of a decent reward.  At the least, plan on using the largest indoor garden you have for the fruits, and limit yourself to using one or two pods at the most.

5. Microgreens  The final category is not strictly a kind of plant, but it is a category.  Microgreens are famous for their fast production and quick turn-around, from planting to harvesting to replanting.   Easy and prolific microgreens include Mungo beans and radish seeds.  Mungo can be bought at Asian groceries for a few dollars a pound, sprout overnight and are ready to harvest in as early as 4 days.

 

Indoor Varieties.  

As all gardeners are well aware, not all tomatoes are created equal.  Some varieties are specifically bread for particular conditions, harvesting patterns, and disease resistance.  The same is true for plants in indoor gardens as well.  Some lettuce varieties will thrive in the unique conditions of a hydroponic system, while others will remain weak and bolt prematurely.  Each of the seeds you choose should be optimized for indoor growing.  Generally, dwarf varieties will do much better in hydroponics than others that are bred for outdoor gardens.  And specific varieties taste better than others, have better texture and have a better shelf life.  

It is the great challenge of the indoor gardener, to be aware of the varieties and make a note of which ones they prefer.  For me, Lola Rosa or Silvia lettuce, with their firm texture and green to red color gradient on their large leave makes a perfect aeroponic lettuce.  On the other hand, I find the more generic leaf lettuce tends to have a weak, limp texture with small leaves and is prone to bolting.

Orange Hat tomatoes are a dwarf cherry variety that stays small, is a prolific producer, and works well in hydroponic systems.  On the other hand, Hybrid Sweet 100s are a sprawling variety that grows well outside when staked, but can be leggy and bland in an indoor system.   No amount of heavy pruning will keep these cherry tomatoes well behaved and under control indoors and they will lead to constant frustration and annoyance.

As always, the gardener's journal of the performance of each seed variety will help you make better informed choices each time you sow a new garden bed.  The obvious lesson is always: don't keep planting poor performers, in hopes that somehow this time will be different.  

Instead, take advice from online sources that have specifically tested their recommendations in indoor gardens.  Be diligent in keeping records of the varieties that you do try and record their success.  Track their progress throughout the season to know which ones mature faster, produce longer, and taste the best.

The Goal

Our goal here is to go beyond simply having one or two indoor garden units that you view as primarily decorative or ornamental.  I assume that, like me, you are already familiar with a unit like the Aerogarden and have experience growing things through their normal life cycle.  

Instead, we want to look at what is required to actually create a productive garden with a useful amount of produce.   For me, this will require a minimum of four hydroponic units plus one for microgreens.  For better productivity, we can expand the plan to use 8 indoor gardens.

These units don't have to be the most sophisticated indoor gardens, either.  They can range from the largest AG Farm to the simplest Harvest, from the most customizable Bounty Elite to a plastic shoebox with an airstone.   Just as long as it can support plant growth.  Many of these systems can be the simple $50 gardens off of Amazon that I call Tier 1 gardens.  

Tier 1 Gardens

Let's talk briefly about Tier 1 systems.  These are basic units that are little more than a basin, a light, a pump and a timer.  These automate many of the basic processes and keep you from having to re-invent the wheel, and without having to break the bank with expensive digital devices.  They have names like iDoo, Mufga, Mars Hydro and can range in price from $49 to $100.  More expensive ones add other fancy features like a phone app, but we're looking for basic capabilities only.  What you get with the Aerogarden name is extensive engineering that makes the extra capabilities worthwhile.  Instead, these bare bones units don't try to do much more than provide a growing space.

So if the units are very basic in their function, why not just make your own hydroponic system instead of buying one?  It only makes sense if the cost works in your favor.  The fact is that hydroponic lights alone cost $30 and up on Amazon.  Then you add the basin, the pump, the timers, and the growing medium and you're already over $50.  Then you have to spend time tinkering with it to get all the pieces to work together and you're still left with something that looks like a high-school science project.  The manufactured units, even the basic ones, bring all these elements together in a discrete and integrated package that is easy to position, monitor, and maintain.

Many manufacturers try to make their product stand out by increasing the pod capacity of the grow deck.  Unfortunately, this actually adds very limited value, because they do little more than cram more pods into the same size growing deck.  Most units measure about 16" x 8", and offer 9 to 12 pods.  Depending on what you're growing, you may only be able to use 4-6 pods for plants to avoid overcrowding and stunted growth.  Squeezing 12 or 15 pods in the same sized deck won't allow you to grow more plants, and you simply have more pod spaces standing empty. 

Microgreens

In a productive indoor garden, one very prolific component is the garden for microgreens.  Microgreens are sprouted seeds that are ready in as little as seven days.  Each week, you can have a new harvest of greens to add to salads, stir-frys, rice bowls, and as a topping to many other main meals.  A good microgreens unit is not only very prolific, but it also is ready to harvest far sooner than the other units in your indoor garden, and gives you an emotional boost when you are still waiting 90 days for your first tomato. 

Microgreen growing units are available on Amazon for as little as $25 and can come in many sizes.  You can use specific microgreen seeds to grow for about $15 - $20 a pound.  But you can also use the seeds found plentifully on the grocery shelves, including lentils, mungo beans, and black-eyed peas.  Most of the beans found in the store will sprout, provided that they are fresh and their package is well sealed. One pound of these seeds sell for $2-3.

Set up of garden beds.

This is what my proposed setup looks like:

A.  One of the Bountys is paired with an Idoo 12 tier 1. In these two gardens I grow a salad bar of lettuce and aromatic herbs.  

B.  In the second Bounty I grow crunchy greens such as Bok Choi. If I had a second unit like this, I would grow another variety of sturdy greens, such as purslane or pereptual spinach.

C.  The third Bounty I use for a variety of aromatics and herbs. Classics here are Basil and Dill.  More adventurous varieties are Cilantro

D.  In the older Ultra, I use for starting seeds to produce transplants.  These are both to restock the other indoor gardens when plants begin to bolt, and also as transplant stock for the outdoor garden

E.  The Harvest is set up to grow microgreens.

F.  I have 2 Farm 12XLs, which together makeup a Farm 24.  In this double unit, I will grow a long-term stand of Tomatoes and Peppers.  With a bigger garden, I can grow up to 4 each of the tomatoes and peppers.  If I only had a regular-sized unit, I would grow just one of each.


For each of these units, we need to have electricity, but more than that, they need to be accessible for maintenance and harvesting.  Indoor gardens need regular attention, filling water, adding nutrients, pruning, harvesting.  An indoor garden where it is too much bother to check the water level or add nutrients is one that is in real danger of failing.  

Each garden also needs regular supplies, including baskets, grow sponges, domes and stickers; they further need nutrients designed for their particular type.

Harvest

This may not seem obvious but the point at which many gardens fail when its time to take in the harvest.  Unharvested lettuce is quicker to bolt.  Unpicked tomatoes cause the whole plant to slow down.  Overgrown leafy greens rub against each other, blocking light and airflow, leading to sad or diseased plants.The other danger is when plants grow too tall, and end up pressing against the light.  Their leaves are bleached, or they grow around the light and end up leggy and weak.

The cure for this is regular harvesting.  These gardens are typically harvested in a "cut and come again" style.  Instead of cutting the whole lettuce plant, you take the outer 2 leaves from each of the plants in the row.  This keeps all the plants growing strongly, because none of them takes a big hit, and it also increases the space between them, improving air flow and light to all the plants. 

Cook What you Grow

In order to be regularly harvesting the produce of the garden, you need to have a way to make use of that produce.  There's no point in growing a whole bed of tatsoi if you never cook with it.  So a key part of the indoor homesteading plan is to assemble menus that use the delicious ingredients you are growing.

This may mean that you actively research recipes for perpetual spinach, or bok choi.  You should have your favorite salad dressing on hand, so that you are always ready to enjoy your harvest of lettuce, basil, and cherry tomatoes.  And you have contingency plans in place:  What do you do when you have too much basil?  Pesto.  An abundance of purslane?  Chimichurri

But the idea is not enough.  You need to have a go-to recipe for basil pesto that you enjoy and that always works.  And you need to have a regular recipe in the rotation that uses your sturdy greens like broccoli rabe or spinach. In order to reach your goal of a homestead that sustains you, this is the information you need to put in place up front, before anything gets started.


Ready to Begin

At this point, you have identified the hydroponic systems you are going to use, and have located at least 5 of them.  Each of these has been given a specific role to play in this ecosystem.

Second, you have identified the types of plants you are going to use, from the four categories.  And more particularly, you have identified the varieties you need and procured the seeds to plant.  

Third, you have identified locations for each of these garden units and have provided supplies for germinating the seeds and feeding them with nutrition.

Fourth, you have prepared menus and recipes that will make good use of the produce you are about to create.

Finally, you have secured a journal where you will record the progress, successes and failures of each of these crops, so you can learn from them in the future.

Next, with all our preparation in place, we will actually begin all the indoor garden units and get a feel for what will be required for the success of our garden.