Holy Plants Batman!
- amy
- Nov 3, 2023
- 6 min read
Once these plants get going, they really get growing!!
The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least! We started our first seeds at the very end of September which was about 2 weeks before we were really ready to start planting and we felt the wrath of impatience and learned our lesson when we lost a good portion of our seedlings, but hey, that's what happens right? We make mistakes, we learn from them, and just like our little plants, we grow! So on October 8th we started 11 more varieties of plants to compensate the seeds we lost and to be the second round of the lettuces we had left!
If you find yourself wondering how we plant our seeds to prepare them for the towers you're in luck because I'm going to tell you! There are several options for this based on preference as well as the type of grow media you are using, the medias are basically organic plastic strips that resemble a hard sponge (the Scrub Daddy sponges) that we place inside of the towers to hold the plants in place and more importantly provide something for the roots to grow into so they have better access to water, the media also sandwiches a wicking strip which is a long felt cloth that goes towards the back of the media to help the nutrient rich water drip evenly down the towers. We use Cocoa/Pete Moss pellets, or plugs as we tend to call them. We place 1-2 seeds, depending on what produce we are planting and drop them into a plug that we have previously placed into trays (200 each!!) and soaked with nutrient rich water. We add a small amount of all natural, organic, nutrients into the water to stimulate root growth and help us to produce the best, healthiest, freshest, nutrient packed produce for all of you to enjoy!
And that's it!
On October 12th, a measly 22 days ago we spent 3 days transplanting our very first round of pods into the towers. The number of plants we can place in each to tower varies based on the recommended seed spacing as well as the average size of the fully matured plant, so we have towers with 20 plants, some with 6 and basically every number in between! The most important factor for us is ensuring we aren't overcrowding our plants to ensure we have a consistently high quality produce for you! That was beginning of a pretty constant routine of plants and transplanting. By the 28th and 29th of October we transplanted 6 more varieties of Lettuce and Herbs and by the early morning hours of the morning of November 2, we officially filled 50% of our towers!! 128 towers filled to capacity with 25 different varieties of produce! We have Kales, Spinaches, Mustards, Leafy lettuces, towers and towers of Romaine, DIll, Thyme, Basils, Cilantros, Swiss Chard and even a tomato or two....and we are just getting started! For purposes of continuous product and to allow us to finalize our standard rotation of these varieties right now we are planting multiple flavors and multiple plants. We only want to provide the very best for all of you!
We will be sampling, sharing, and requesting feedback from our friend and families, some local Chefs and several other food and drink people (our people) what their thoughts are on these products so for the time being, we will have a lot of variety for people to choose from! As promised earlier today I do have a little sneak peek of some randomly chosen plants to share with all of you today!!
So, without further ado...
Let's start with a little Thyme!
Nick and I stumbled across this common Thyme when we were shopping around for for seeds for our "office garden" and we loved the flavor and fragrance of it so much that we decided to start off with it as our primary Thyme variety. It's a little bit of a slow starter but once these baby gets going it's like it just won't stop! These two plants went into the towers less than a week ago and they have more than tripled in size, I use it in everything! Poultry dishes, soups, all of the red sauces I made this year and it always just provides such a flavor of comfort. Using any other Thyme at this point, just feels wrong. It adds so much depth to every single dish I can think of, I even put it in the herb mixture I use when I'm preparing lamb for my gyro recipe! 12/10 for us!
Purple Ball Basil
This beauty is just a show stopper! Look at those gorgeous purple leaves! This can be used in place of or with any common Basil to enhance your favorite dishes! It's also amazing on toasted break with a little fresh mozzarella and a splash of Balsamic Glaze. It is as fragrant and flavorful as it is beautiful!
Japanese Giant Red Mustard
These were just translated a couple of days ago so they are a little premature for us to taste just yet but here is why I chose it as one of our mustard varieties. It is said to have a strong, sharp, almost garlicky mustard flavor! It can be used any time you're after a stronger mustard flavor, it is supposed to be fantastic in stir fries and a wonderful option for pickling, and people rave about how tasty it is just simply boiled! With all of the research I did on mustards this one was simply just too intriguing for me to pass up and I can't wait to start cooking with it at home!
Dwarf Lemon Cilantro
This is a delicious, versatile cilantro! It has a subtle citrus flavor that brings a brightness to the cilantro that I have never found with other Cilantro varieties. In my opinion it is a little less intense or overpowering as some of the more common Cilantros that I'm used to, it is certainly less potent than the other Cilantro we currently have in our towers but equally fragrant that adds just a touch of citrus to round out that forever loved smell of cilantro!
Chinese Sweet Basil
This is the type of specialty Basil that inspires people! It is tender and aromatic! Along with its variations of greens in the leaves even the stems are tender enough to eat raw on top of a salad. Its flavor is bright with a mild lemony orange flavor that finishes with an almost very mild licorice flavor! Nick and I were able to sample a little bit right off the plant with family and we were all stunned by the texture and taste of this show stopper. It can be extremely hard to find in the US but it grows extremely well in our towers, This one is sure to be a hit amongst many and I am absolutely planning on keeping it as one of our staple specialty items, I really can't even begin to share this with all of you. I love basil, and this one has quickly become my new favorite!
Solar Flare Lettuce
Another lettuce variety that I am beyond excited to try when its matured, these were just transplanted on the first so they have a few more days to go before we will be able to start snacking on it ourselves so again, here's why I chose it! As it matures these light green leaves will become a semi-romaine full of all varieties of fiery colors! The leaves will be slightly ruffled and extremely tender. Another bonus to this gorgeous lettuce is that it is very slow to bolt and it can withstand drought and heat and it is even frost tolerant! I was looking for something beautiful as it was versatile and I truly think this will be a fan favorite. The one downside to this unique variety is the rarity of it, It is typically grown as small batch lettuce and the seeds are always in a limited quality so whenever I can find the seeds it's safe to say we will be growing it!
There you have it! Your very first sneak peak into the beauty we have in store for all of you in the weeks to come
We will be able to start harvesting some of the herbs listed above, as well as some that we haven't shared with you all just yet. So please keep an eye on our FB page as well as our website for updates and our very first friends and family round. We are both so grateful that we are this close to being able to share what we have been growing since we brought home our beat up little farm in July. It's hard to believe that we dove head first into this little leafy dream of ours just 4 short months ago and we cant thank all of you enough for tagging along with us through the beginning of what is sure to be an awfully big adventure, we are so excited to continue to grow with you! Stay tuned...
Until next time friends,
Stay Leafy!
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