Whoever plants a garden, plants happiness. - Chinese Proverb

Being that I am writing as a representative of the Greer Farm I normally like to grow my plants in the dirt. But this Christmas some of our city dwelling kinfolk gave us this neat contraption called the AeroGarden. It is the "world's first indoor smart garden," enabling me to grow culinary herbs from the comfort of my living room. Plug and play gardening, if you will.

The plants are grown in a soil free medium. Water from a reservoir is pumped up to the plants and drips through the medium back into the reservoir. This process is called "aeroponics," not "hydroponics." A nutrient tablet placed into the water provides fertilization. Compact fluorescent grow bulbs provide light. The machine alerts you when water is low or when nutrients need to be added.

The seeds are purchased in kits that include little seed filled pods and plastic domes for germinating. The set I am growing first is called Gourmet Herbs and contains chives, dill, mint, parsley, cilantro, italian basil, and purple basil. The plants are arranged in a particular arrangement to favor their different growth rates and foliage. You can supposedly begin harvesting in three weeks and harvest for four to five months.

At any rate, today is Day 1 of my AeroGarden Expaeroment. I will post updates as the plants grow so you can follow along from home.

This is the AeroGarden




Closeup of seed pods




Water dripping through the plant medium into reservoir