If you’ve walked through a Bed Bath & Beyond lately, you’ve probably seen the Aerogarden (actually, if you’ve walked anywhere you’ve probably seen them — these things are becoming the Foreman Grill of herb gardens). I broke down and bought one in February, watched the herbs sprout like weeds, and am now completely enamored with it. I spend a few minutes ever day pruning and inspecting it… it’s very cathartic. Sort of a bonsai tree for dummies. Seriously, it’s idiot-proof. You’ve got to check the water level regularly and you need to trim and harvest the herbs, but we’re not exactly talking complicated here. Of course, the herbs grow so heartily that even the most inept gardener (namely, me — what’s the opposite of green thumb?) thinks he’s actually doing something.
Most of the herbs (parsley, mint, chives, basil, dill and thyme) are still looking good, especially the two types of basil (Italian and purple), which are going nuts. It really is great having fresh herbs on hand; I can barely make enough pesto, dill potatoes and Thai basil chicken to keep up.
Now if this tomato salmonella scare would just go away, I could start making caprese salads again…
6 Comments
Greetings,
Just curious about your Aerogarden. I was thinking of buying one. I saw it advertised in Linens and Things flyer and thought it might be a gimmick–you know, looks nice in the photo but just doesn’t work.
Hi, PlantBuddy, I was skeptical too, and thought about it months before buying one, but when we saw how fast the plants frow in those we bought several more and love them all. It is not a gimmick.
Hi, just thought you would like to know about a new Aerogarden community
http://www.AeroGardeners.com
There you can share photos, swap seeds and discuss tips and tricks.
I’ll concur with the other responses. I’ve had two seven-pod versions for about nine months. I’m just starting my third generation of plants. (I did transplant the original monster Basil Plants to a dirt pot placed between the units to get the light, and they’re still quite happy.) I swear I’m not on AeroGrow’s payroll. Honestly, I don’t know how I lived without the things. I’ve grown lettuces, the “baby greens”, green beans and herbs, and they’ve all been great (except for the chives, which had issues…) Tending the plants is fun and, yes, sort of soothing. (It reminds me a lot of fussing over my aquarium fishes, except one doesn’t ultimately eat the cichlids.)
An additional benefit is having the lights on, too. I originally stumbled on the AeroGrow site while looking for full-spectrum lights to have around during the winter. The grow lights do double duty by also just brightening up the room. (Plan your unit’s location carefully, since there are places in your house where having fairly bright lights on sixteen hours a day might not be welcome.)
I had some problems with the chives also. They started out strong but then started withering a bit. My current cycle of herbs seems to be coming to an end, so I’ve been thinking about what to grow next. I like the idea of doing salad greens, but tomatoes or chili peppers sound interesting too.
We have been growing the salad greens kit,and just passed the 55 day milestone. We have harvested quite a bit of salad greens (about every 3-4 days). The one (I would call it an issue) but thing we’ve seen develop is that the plants can get some vines, that have crowded the new growth. You can see what I mean by these pictures here:
http://www.kitchengardentoday.com/blog-mainmenu-28/football-mainmenu-38/23-aerogarden/194-aerogarden-salad-greens-day-47.html
A few days after we had taken these pictures, we trimmed alot of the vines out. My wife and I are salad junkies, but we think that the romaine kit probably won’t have this issue. It’s just our opinion, that I thought I would share with you.
Have a great day!