The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Ultimate Aquaponics setup

14.3 years ago aquaponics, herbs, hydroponics, indoor growbox 8 Comments

I actually thought I already posted about this bad boy which unfortunately is only a design concept from Philips.  For those that are not familiar:

Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.

Aquatic animal effluent (for example fish waste) accumulates in water as a by-product of keeping them in a closed system or tank (for example a recirculating aquaculture system). The effluent-rich water becomes high in plant nutrients but this is correspondingly toxic to the aquatic animal.

Source Wikipedia

This system is called the BioTower, the first 2 levels are hydroponic plants with the third being algae.  The fourth layer contains shrimp and fish which produce organic waste which is stored in the bottom layer.

The lights are powered using optical fibers from the sun and the methane from the organic waste powers the lights at night.  The plants and seafood can then be consumed all powered by the various ecosystems.

I couldn’t even imagine what something like this would cost if it came out of the design phase, though a simple cover over the organic waste and this would make a great conversation piece.

Harvesting some Bok Choy from my winter garden

12.9 years ago bok choy, recipe, winter garden 3 Comments

I got my first harvest from my winter garden, I could have given this a couple weeks more but the plants were starting to get crowded.  Not ever cooked Bok Choy I went with the idea that everything is better with bacon and made some Bok Choy with bacon…or maybe could call it Bacon with some Bok Choy.

Not only delicious but given its low calorie count (14 calories per 100g) and being high in Vitamin A/C/K and a good source of folates, calcium, and iron.

Molecular composition of DIRT

11.4 years ago chemistry, dirt, soil composition Leave a comment

While walking down the hallways at work I noticed a coworker with a caffeine molecular T-Shirt and made me think of the question, “What does a simple spec of dirt look look?”   I know my brain works in weird ways…but anyway what I found was pretty amazing.  Above is what an average molecule’s chemical composition looks like.

For any of you chemistry nerds more specifically this is C₃₄₉H₄₀₁N₂₆O₁₇₃S which is visually represented above. 

Humic Acid

The majority of this molecule is Humic acid which comprises of the majority of organic soil matter (or dirt) which is a very weak acid group partially visualized below as groupings of Carboxylic/Phenolic/Alcoholic/Quinonic/Ketone/Methoxl. 

Saccharides (sugars)

Next we have the saccharides or as we more commonly refer to as sugar…

 

Proteinaceous material

I don’t even know where to start on this amazing hexapeptide…so I will jump to the pretty picture.

Water

Of course you also have to have some good ole’ H₂0

Aromatic carbon

Which is a hydrocarbon with alternating double and single bonds between carbon atoms forming rings. 

Now of course not every piece of dirt appears exactly like what is shown above, but this would be the more common of the bunch.  Depending on how you compost and/or sourced your soil you will also have all kinds of neat trace minerals in your soil that will help your plants grow but also provide digestible nutrients to the foods you grow. 

So next time you pick up a handful of soil you can have a even greater appreciation for the cool chemistry that made it all possible.

Source: The Virtual Museum of Minerals and Molecules

Cheap DIY fogger aeroponic system

15.6 years ago aeroponics, cheap, hydroponics, indoor growbox, indoor seed starting 17 Comments

In my post about basic the basics of hydroponics I mentioned the potential high cost of entry but with a little creativity this can be avoided.  I went through this exercise and here is a pretty inexpensive way to try out hydroponics without having to spend hundreds on a prebuilt system.  The solution I came up with cost me $1.00 to setup though I did have many of the items on hand, if I had to purchase everything cost would be in the $10-15 range.

Supplies

• Small shoebox sized plastic tub /w lid —  (I purchased a clear generic one from Home Depot for $1.00)
• 2 inch hole saw and drill
• 6 — Empty Trix yogurt cups (can be any brand as long top is approx 2 in diameter)
• Duct tape (no one should be without this)
• Pond fogger – single disc (can be found on eBay for less than $10, I had one from humidifier)
• Perlite
• Water (tap water is fine, fancy bottles work as well)

Assembly
From looking at the supplies this might be able to guess the construction steps, but I will list them out anyway.

1. Take lid and add drill six 2-inch holes using hole saw.  If the tub is not made of rubbery material be sure to take your time to slowly create the holes to prevent cracking/shattering.  You can also do this with a utility knife but for non-rubber lids I highly suggest against it if you like your fingers.
2. Test fit your cups and ensure they fit snuggly, if they do not quite fit you can use some sandpaper to expand the holes slightly
3. Remove cups and cut (utility knife) or burn (soldering iron) 1/4 in lines in a pattern similar to the figure to the right to ensure extra support and prevent the medium (perlite) from falling through.   WARNING: Burning plastic emits toxic fumes and should be done (if at all in a well ventilated area)  Knifes are sharp and can cut fingers so if you not careful.  I would recommend buying 2 inch hydroponic net pots which can be purchased for about $0.25 each online, which I would have done if I wasn’t so impatient.
4. Given that nutrients+water+light=algae, be sure that your box is as light tight as possible.  If you container is not clear like mine you should be in good shape, otherwise cover your box with duct tape or spray paint the box using plastic adhering paint.  I would recommend keeping a small vertical line exposed so you can get a quick look at water condition and level without having to disturbing the plants.
5. Fill cups with perlite 4/5 full (some expansion may occur)
6. Pour water into cups until reservoir is full
7. Dump water out water
8. Repeat steps 4-6 until water appears clear
9. Cut small hole in the corner of the lid and feed power line to fogger through
10. Put fogger in tub and fill with water until it is about 1/2 inch above fogger
11. Replace lid and plug in fogger and enjoy the mysterious fog

What can I grow with this?
The short answer is anything.  Self regulation wicking properties of perlite it should keep most plants happy for some time.  The major limitation you may see is some types of plants will outgrow this setup and will require transplant outside in soil or in a larger hydroponic setup (coming soon).  Though with careful selection of plants and frequent harvesting you can grow many plants to maturity in this small system.  It did not occur to me until after I completed the project but the size and spacing is pretty close to that of an AeroGarden so plants like greens, herbs, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, peppers would do well in this system.  For starting plants you can simply drop a few seeds, cover with some perlite and a clear plastic container (I used empty applesauce cups, but bottom of water bottles also would work well)  You may also add seedlings by carefully placing in them in the damp perlite.

What about nutrients?
Keeping the project cheap I opted to use some balanced liquid plant fertilizer I use for my seedling/indoor plants.  I mixed it at the recommendation it stated for indoor watering (2 pumps per gallon)  I noticed it did not contain any Magnesium I also added a half a teaspoon of Epsom salt.  After a couple weeks empty contents and replace with water let run for about an hour to allow sediments to clear up and then empty contents.  This is good for your plants but also can help keep the disc on your fogger clean.  Refill with water and nutrient mix and repeat.  This will work for most plants in vegetative state of growth though if you want your plants to move to a flowering state (peppers, tomatoes, etc) I would recommend purchasing specific hydroponic solution for flowering plants.

For a very small investment you can have your own hydroponic system and experience the benefits of growing without soil.

How to make Homemade pumpkin bread

6 years ago pumpkin, recipe 4 Comments

After having an abundance of cooked pumpkin after over purchasing on a couple of organic pie pumpkins I decided to make some pumpkin bread, here is the recipe I have always had great results with.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked pumpkin plus 1 cup or water or 16 oz can of canned pumpkin plus 1.25 cups water
• 3.5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1.5 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, water, oil and pumpkin.
4. Slowly at wet ingredients to dry ingredients and blend until well combined.
5. Pour into two lightly greased and floured bread loaf pans.
6. Bake for 1 hour and test if done by inserting a knife into the middle of the loaf and when it comes out clean it is done.
7. Let cool for 30 minutes, top with aluminum foil and place into your refrigerator and let cool overnight.

Ultimate Plant Cage/Stake/Plant clip review

10.4 years ago planter, product review, trellis 1 Comment

This nice people at Global Garden Friends were nice enough to send me a few of their product to try out with my garden this year and given today I was bringing out my cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, and pumpkins from the grow box it seemed like a great time to put them to the test.

The first product I tried out was their Ultimate Plant Cage which is a plastic ring that comes in four parts with spikes you can stab into the soil.  I used this on my self watering planter which I just planted a tomato plant into today.

What I like about this system is you can actually assemble this around your plant which is helpful if you are a bit late adding a plant cage to your plants.   Also on this right are six small posts which you can attach their Ultimate Plant Stakes (included with the kit) where you can adjust the height and the width as needed to support your growing plant.

   

I also use a few more of their Ultimate Plant Stakes to give my peas a little help as they start to take off in the next couple weeks.  The only complaint I have for these is there is not a lot of resistance when you extend these stakes so supporting from an angle may work ok but if your weight is a direct downward force I could see these potentially collapsing under some load.

In addition they also sent me some plant clips which you can use to assist your vegetables to climb their trellis until they have adequate support on their own.  I have done twine and zip ties in the past but what I like about these is they are much easier to remove when the time comes and also pretty large so easy to find to reuse on other plants as needed.

I suspect I will be able to use them to help my peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers find their trellises when the time comes.