Gardening time here.. updated for 2026

[brewmaster15]

Wow! I would absolutely love to have been involved in that. Theres a growing industry here in CT for aquaculture and aquaponics but its only a handful of companies.

I have a pretty well developed green thumb Danny but I think the scope of what you were doing far exceeds it! I do have humble plans for a small greenhouse one day and to be a somewhat successful backyard.plant scientist...lol. But I will settle for growing a diverse crop for my family.

This year..
tomatoes
peppers
eggplant
kolrabi
radishes
spinach
kales
kang kong
chinese brocoli
pole beans
Asian long beans
many herbs
sweet potato greens
swiss chard
chicory
sweet peas
nasturium
beets
watercress
wintercress
onions
garlic
stinging nettle
malabar spinach
lettuces
celery
Egyptian Spinach


...... and probablely more

[jwcarlson]

Beautiful setup that, Danny. Pretty cool.

I'm trying to balance my "lets grow that" with my "how in the hell am I ever going to maintain that much garden?"...
I need to get my potatoes in the ground this weekend. Bought 20 asparagus crowns that are supposed to ship in about a week. I need to move my big chickens over to the new garden so they can further clean everything up before I start planting in it. And I am behind on seed starts and seedling maintenance!

[brewmaster15]

Beautiful setup that, Danny. Pretty cool.

I'm trying to balance my "lets grow that" with my "how in the hell am I ever going to maintain that much garden?"...
I need to get my potatoes in the ground this weekend. Bought 20 asparagus crowns that are supposed to ship in about a week. I need to move my big chickens over to the new garden so they can further clean everything up before I start planting in it. And I am behind on seed starts and seedling maintenance!

Jacob, I get exactly where you are.I really am terrible at moderation. I planted way too many seeds... too many different plants I want to grow. Its going to be a ton of work. To be frank.. Its a bit like discus,fish keeping, and photography for me. I never seem to be able to keep a hobby from getting out of control. I'm definitely an "in for a pound not penny guy.

I have come to accept its just how I am wired for better or worse..usually its worse but I do the best I can either way.

[danotaylor]

I got a call from a friend last week who has a restaurant & a small produce store that uses & sells predominantly locally grown produce. His microgreens supplier went offline suddenly and he asked me if could fill the gap. We're gonna start w 2.2lbs weekly for the restaurant, and hopefully also supply 2 & 5oz packs for the store. I ordered my substrate (biostrate) & seeds (basic salad mix) and Sunday will sow & start up my system again for a weekly harvest starting May 20th. 4 days in dark for germination, 10-12 days under lights 12hrs/day, harvest day 12, deliver same day. Pretty stoked with opportunity. The money for small batches is minimal, but it's also not much work, and is rewarding. Happy days
Heres a few pics of my last set up…

[brewmaster15]

Danny thats really great! I remember when you posted on your micro greens a few months ago. You actually inspired me to give them a try. I decided to go much smaller and start with simple sprouts. Picked up a jar system on Amazon which really works incredibly well and was very cheap. Easy to use. I have been sprouting mostly mung beans and lentils in it but have some kale seeds to try next .. plan on doing micro greens probably this fall when garden season dies back.


Jar set up....

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGV2DXWH?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_0_3

[danotaylor]

Very cool Al. I have never done sprouts before, but I do enjoy eating them. I too am prone to not moderating my commitments very well, but in recent years I have been much better

[brewmaster15]

Hey Danny..
heres a current batch of lentil sprouts and mung beans. Its literally the easiest thing to do. Add seeds to jar.. soak a few hours.. drain and cover.. rinse daily and in a few days..

[brewmaster15]

Gardens coming along well.
sweet peas are up.... I made use of trees on my yard for trellis this year.Rose of sharon is all over the place and grows fast so worked out.


Gardens bok choi, kolrabi,spinach, and radishes are up and thriving..need to thin out and use in my salads.


Got some peppers in..



I planted a ton of Italian chicory... The lettuce like leaves are bitter but paired with dried berries or raspberry vinegret is just reall tasty..super nutritious and extremely hardly.It also has beautiful blue/purple flowers. the root can be dried as weed as a caffiene free coffee substitute.


Aquaponics is gping well.. Added the Kang Kong to the barrel and stocked it with endlers.. will add plecos and mystery snails soon. The watercress has doubled in size in the last week.



Kale and swiss chard are growing.Pretty soon I will net the to keep cabbage moths and leaf miners off. Hoops are made from rose of sharon..



Still have a ton to plant..








Basil seedlings.. ready for transplant. move them early to bigger pots.






Onion seedlings growing well..


Onionsets are thriving.. cutback already once. Weeds are doing well too. had some rainy weather last few days and everything shot up.

[jwcarlson]

Everything is looking nice and healthy, Al! I'm woefully behind on the gardening. I've given up the idea that any of my tomato or pepper starts are going to amount to anything. I still haven't repotted them. There's just too much else going on... I'll buy some for this year. And then fill the rest of the garden with big vine-y plants. And a corner for some asparagus starts.

[Second Hand Pat]

You guys rock with your gardening skills. With the move to Cocoa I might need to try some gardening for myself. My daughter Diana and Mike have a ton of veggies growing at their place and I am sure that they would love to take me under their wing and show me the ropes. I will try and get some pics when I am at their place next.
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Everything is looking nice and healthy, Al! I'm woefully behind on the gardening. I've given up the idea that any of my tomato or pepper starts are going to amount to anything. I still haven't repotted them. There's just too much else going on... I'll buy some for this year. And then fill the rest of the garden with big vine-y plants. And a corner for some asparagus starts.

Thanks Jacob.Its definitely been a bit of work.Bummer your gardening plans hit some snags. There are alot of direct sow veggies at least out there now that its warmed up.

[brewmaster15]

You guys rock with your gardening skills. With the move to Cocoa I might need to try some gardening for myself. My daughter Diana and Mike have a ton of veggies growing at their place and I am sure that they would love to take me under their wing and show me the ropes. I will try and get some pics when I am at their place next.
Pat

Its a nice hobby Pat and where you are you really have a ton of choices of what to grow.

[brewmaster15]

So I expanded my aquaponics a bit yesterday. Added some more Kang Kong and took some cuttings of the watercress .These I set up in smaller 5 gal buckets. All have Airlines that are running off solar...


I have 250 watts of solar panels (12v)
charging 100 amp hour deep cycle lead acid batteries. Basically I have 3 separate battery banks(200amp hours x2 and a single 100 amp hour). I use this as a battery backup for the house and to run electrical stuff with inverters. Currently using small whisper pumps on 100 watt car light adapters for aerating the water.Im looking for a good 12 v airpump thats not overkill power consumption wise. I have a bunch of 12v but they are just too powerful and the small stuff I can find is poorly built. Its always best power consumption wise to find appliances that work of DC directly rather than use an AC appliance with an inverter...but so far the system I have works fine and theres plenty battery reserves.

Its a little hickish but Im not one of those guys that follows form over function. I will use whatever it takes to get a project done with any constraints I have.

[jwcarlson]

We had a pretty decent frost here last night!

[danotaylor]

Hey Danny..
heres a current batch of lentil sprouts and mung beans. Its literally the easiest thing to do. Add seeds to jar.. soak a few hours.. drain and cover.. rinse daily and in a few days..

Awesome Al. That’s a super easy method, love it! The plates version looks delicious!