reaching for the sky

here's a picture of the mint reaching out from the sponge. they look happy...!

you can see the basil behind, i used some in a cocktail mix yesterday, the weather is perfect at the moment, 80 degrees. i muddled (mashed) the basil with some ice, vodka and a cranberry mix i bought from William Sonoma, based on some legendary cocktail made at the gramercy tavern in NYC...it was refreshing, the perfect end of summer drink.

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

basil pistou...and a surprise guest!

i finally got some time to set up the new crop.
my daughter dutifully helped mix up the nutrient. we rinsed the sponge, first under some running water. we placed the sponge back, in the correct orientation, and placed the seeds along the inside of the grow sponge slit. we dribbled mixed nutrient along the seed slit and filled up the reservoir with the mixed nutrient. and Voila we turned her on and that was saturday.

it's now wednesday and there's been some nice developments, as you can see. i placed the humidadomes over the sprouting seeds, to help concentrate the humidity, light and heat.

we are trying Basil Pistou seeds from Burpee. the seed packet says it's a small leaf basil, grows abundantly and is commonly used for pesto in France...cant wait to see its beautiful leaves.

i will admit that the second power plant mini has something very unusual in it (the last picture)...and i'll continue to keep the blog updated with photos of it....and you'll just have to keep coming back to see what it might develop into!

so far its been an absolute joy running the power plants, especially the level of care i feel for these developing plants, right in front of my eyes. every day i get to see a little more development and my daughter still grabs the kitchen stool to take a peep at 'her' plants.

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.