pizza time...

Having finished with my travel season, i'm now back and taking back the powerplant from my daughter and her experiments!

i decided it was time to start making pizza again and for that i need the 'special ingredient' FRESH home grown BASIL!

i have sewn two types, one a lime basil and the other, a more basic variety, Genovese basil

I cleaned out my mini by rinsing with a very tiny amount of bleach mixed with water and ran the device so all the pipes and pump were cleaned

i then added a new sponge and the seeds, these were planted March 14th.
you can see how well the basil sprouted. I haven't touched the nutrient mix to refill, all i've done up until today was turn my lamp on at breakfast and off at dinner time.

today i trimmed out / thinned the plants to keep only the biggest strongest looking basil plants.
the smell of the cut basil was refreshing.

i'll be keeping the site upto date so you can enjoy watching my basil grow.

lighting and such

I've been trying to get Sophie to switch her lamp on and off everyday, but its been very sporadic, up until last week, when her brain clicked and now she is super consistent!...and the plants are happy she did!...you'll see there's been quite a bit of growth.

We followed the instructions on the seed pack and plucked the weaker looking plants out. I thought she'd be unhappy at removing 'her' plants, but surprisingly she loved to pull them out...
Since the instructions say that it takes a few months for the flowers to grow i'm being very patient...certainly -for me anyway- not as rewarding as growing basil and other herbs.

brrrr...it's cold outside!

While i was away, my daughter got it into her head that it was time mommy had more flowers around the house...and she wanted mom to have tulips!...well, it's 14 degrees F outside, with ice on the ground...so after explaining the cold weather in January was bad for bulbs- she took it on herself to plant some petunias instead, in 'her' powerplant mini. She instructed mom on what to do...and here they are 4 days later!!!..they like my new prepara grow lamp and their green nutrient (more on this later).

Every morning she pulls over a bar stool and climbs up, clicks on the grow lamp and checks them out, normally followed by ooos and ahhhs, as they really have shot up. I'll be sure to keep the blog up to date.
I've been thinking these power plant products would be great for schools, they are just so remarkably engaging and fun.

Here's some nutrient update i mentioned above;
While developing new products Prepara has been continually upgrading their methodolgy and specifications of the products. The first thing they learnt was that you cant trust to any old nutrient for growing. So, if you have green nutrient..then you have the latest and VERY best available in the world....1 teaspoon per gallon of plain old water! voila!

However, if you have some yellow or aqua color nutrient, then you have the 'old' stuff (with different mixing instructions)...this will work, but be sure to 'upgrade' your machine to the new stuff...you WILL NOT regret it...it's amazing!..you'll get the replacement, currently from preparas web site, where they will sell you enough -at a great price-for many, many grow cycles.

While at the site download the growing instruction PDF...this was simplified and you will see the use of the 'timer' has been written out...this is now considered an option for those of you that want to save electricity, however the power plants can be left running 24/7 with no adverse effects whatsoever. plus- they really only use a tiny amount of power, so...its up to you. I dont use a timer and my plants grow splendidly.

a new batch of basil

i've been travelling a lot lately again!..sorry for the tardiness.

as we move into the holidays i thought i'd replant in preparas new power plant pro.
of course my dream is to have freshly grown basil all the time to hand, and in this dark, chilly, wet november climate the indoor power plant really delivers...if you're also stuck in a dark spot- don't forget to get the grow lamp too! (my current hot tip is to buy from brookstone.com ..who carry the lamp for an amazing price- that won't be repeated after that batch sells through!...and the lamp is made to fit both the pro and the mini, also can be used for propagating your other seeds come springtime)

i loaded the power plant pro with sweet italian basil from burpee, you can see the sprouts are doing well and i expect to start pinching them back early next week.
the seeds only cost me a couple of bucks and there's hundreds!!!...no expensive system needed...i'm sure the one pack will keep me in basil for a couple of years!

hope everyone, even remotely interested in growing, gets a chance to try one of these power plants- whether its the mini or the pro....even absolute novices, which btw my daughter is 4-and definitely a novice gardener- i read her the instructions, she followed along...she is very excited to plant and see the seeds grow...and she cant believe she can eat the produce...it's very rewarding.

i'll post more images as they sprout upwards

the mini is available online-prepara.com and at target.com, cooking.com, amazon.com, bedbathandbeyond.com
the pro is just being rolled out and so far just at brookstone.com until next month

experimenting further with sprouts etc.

i received an interesting pack of mixed sprouts and couldn't wait to try it...i planted them on wednesday last week and within a very short time they were flying out of the power plant mini.

sprouts are so good for you, healthy and tasty..how cool.
i scattered the seeds on top of a moistened sponge. i then covered the seeds...and really they were just sitting on top of the sponge, all shapes and sizes. i left them in the dark for 2 days and then lifted up the cover. my next step was to pour some more water over them, just enough to keep the sponge moist, i did it delicately because i didn't want to wash the 'loose' seeds away.

then they went for it!...as you can see very healthy, i should have cropped them by now, but wanted to see how tall they'd get...i tasted a few and although they look essentially the same..long and lanky, they all tasted exceptionally different.
i'll post the mix, but i'm sure one was a very strong spiciness...it took me a while to get over it!

on another note the power plant pro on test- is growing crazily well...the mixed salad took over in a fight with the chili plant..nice

btw...check out the first retailer to carry the power plant pro and the power grow lamp...it's Brookstone..the lamp is an absolute steal at the moment..it's awesome for all types of plants and great for propagating, it fits snugly with both the pro and the mini...the price of the lamp will never be that low again! take my word, it's a great combo, lamp and pro...you just need the seed and the imagination!

at last...i planted the mint

here are a few images of the basil pistou growing happily and healthily in my kitchen. she has continually sprouted new leaves and unlike the other basil i've grown, she doesn't seem to need paring back....she just grows up a little and sprouts loads of new leaves...she really is a bushy plant.

you'll also see alongside the power plant- my mint. i planted this morning, only took a few minutes, so keep checking back, as i'll be updating the site regularly.

for those of you 'in the know' prepara just upgraded the nutrient for the power plant series..this new stuff is awesome...they sell it at their site...enough for a couple of years growing.
(if your power plant came with the very early yellow nutrient you'll now find the new green stuff to be like steroids for your plants!!...they love it....and its natural and the stuff has won awards from the hydroponic gardening industry - FYI all the recent shipments of powerplant had already been upgraded to the new stuff...it's just the yellow nutrient that is the old stuff)

how does your garden grow?

recently i've heard a few people mention the need for a timer with the power plant, however, this was based upon old instructions included with the packaging.
the laboratory technicians at prepara discovered the power plant mini actually runs better when left on full time...no need for the timer!


and btw, running it full time should be a quiet and tranquil experience-sounding very much like a faraway trickling stream.

a New plant to try!
i thought i'd include a video here of a very interesting plant we grew....it's incredible and so much fun!!!!
it's called a 'sensitive' plant (mimosa pudica) and you can see why...it didn't take long to grow, possibly 5 weeks to this point.
we just planted the seeds and plugged the power plant mini in and left her to grow
you can see a more formal description here on Wikipedia

mystery-to be solved?

ok, so here are the leaves on the 'mystery plant,' a little more developed...can you guess what it is yet? (in the first two pictures)
i cant be sure what will happen with it, but i'll keep the blog upto date with it's developments.

also, the pistou is making great headway now...the leaves are doubling up and in a few more days i'll be pinching them back to encourage bushier growth.

oh, and btw have you checked out the demo video at;

http://www.prepara.com/power_plant.php


it shows how quick these prepara power plant minis are to set up.

another crop coming!

here they are...both plants are looking very healthy, they've been picked over a number of times and now they've fully sprouted back, full and fresh.

full of flavors...but not mixed!

since the basil was trimmed there's been a lot of newer bushier growth.
the leaves are growing in tighter groups, i'll likely use some again this weekend, it'll be the 3rd crop.

in this crop you'll see i planted siam basil in one half (the pointy leaves) and italian sweet basil in the other.
however, now i wish i'd just done one varietal.
both are delicious, but they are so different in flavor.

the siam is truly the same fragrance and flavor as that found in thai food. it has an especially strong liquorice taste and reminded me very much of my favorite pad thai dish..yum yum

the sweet basil is great for pizza and pesto, much less pungent!

talking of which;
i thought i'd share my latest pesto mix
the 'power plant pesto' great for spreading on sandwiches-panini anyone?, especially with tomatoes and mozzarella

heres my recipe for a small qty;
take 1-2 cup of leaves- tightly packed
2 tablespoons of roasted marcona almonds (i've been heating some marcona nuts my wife bought at costco ...salted....add them into a pan with a dash of olive oil and stir regularly until they brown...you'll probably need to do twice as many, cos when you taste them -they are out of this world!)
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan
1 small garlic clove-peeled
half tablespoon lemon juice-or lime juice
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin oil

combine ingredients of; basil, nuts, cheese, garlic, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of water, season with salt and pepper in a small blender...i use a stick blender. Puree until you make a paste (you could use a mortar and pestle with such a small qty of pesto...the old way!)
add in portions of the olive oil, just enough until the paste becomes a smooth buttery texture...good for spreading.