Week One: Tower Garden Update

   First of all let me shout out: my seedlings survived the first week!!!!! (all but the one that was damaged in shipment and I planted it anyway just to give it a chance). They looked a little sad the first day, when it got up to 98 degrees. However, within a few days the shock of their shipping seemed to wear off and their adjustment to Tower Living seems to suit them just fine.  So far Tower Gardening is so easy even I can do this.
     My chore list for my Tower Garden this week included: well, no watering, no weeding, no spraying for insects, ... the only chore I had was listening every day or so to make sure the pump was cycling on and off every 15 minutes. As an over achiever, I also watched my plants grow new leaves and touched the rock wool occasionally to make sure it was getting moisture.
   At the end of week one, I did have some official chores to do. Because it's been so hot, I topped off the reservoir with water from my garden hose to 3 inches from the top of the opening under the labeled plate. When you top off the water, you add nutrients part A and part B at the rate of 20ml/gallons of water added. I approximated about 2.5 gallons of water was added so I put in an additional 50ml of each part to the reservoir.
     It's recommended to check your PH once a week, especially when you add water and nutrients. So I dipped  5ml of water out of the reservoir and did a quick PH test. The PH was holding at 6.0! Perfect!
    This is the easiest gardening I have ever under taken. And it looks pretty awesome on my deck, too!!!

   Learn more about the Tower Garden at http://kbrixey.towergarden.com/  

We're up and Running!

     The seedlings arrived on Wednesday from Living Tower Seedlings, They were in pretty good shape except the watermelon vine didn't seem to make it so I snapped a photo of it and emailed it to customer service, They credited my account for my new order. They will also resend your seedling if you request but because we are starting so late in the season I decided to wait. 

     The seedlings come ready to insert into the Tower Garden nestled in their rock wool coat. I removed the stacks that held them in the packs and removed each pod. I carefully placed the pods into the water tray using the same map in which they were labeled when shipped. The pods will soak in the sunshine for 24 hours before I move them to the Tower Thursday evening. 

     I put all the supplies I will need in a tote. The only thing you need is a ph testing kit, ph up and ph down, and nutrient solution.

     I am  happy I ordered the  dolly because after filling the reservoir with water that tower wasn't going to be moving anywhere. The dolly offered by Tower Gardens JP+ fit the Tower Garden to a tee.






     After we filled the reservoir, I tested the pump to make sure it was filling the basket and draining through all the pod baskets.








   

     The next step was to test the Ph.











   It was a little high so we added some PH Down and retested. Adding a little more until it came exactly 6.0

I 

     Then all that was left was to add the nutrient solution Part A and Part B as directed, hook up the timer and make sure the solution was pumping through the system at a cycle of 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off.

    Then came the funnest part. We got to fill our pod baskets with our seedlings. I used our map to make sure the herbs were on top, then our leafy vegetables, then the bushes, and then on the bottom I placed all our the fruiting vines. 

The finished product: 

DAY ONE!! 

Seed Starter

   I followed the directions putting the Tower Garden together with a few exceptions and advice from friends already doing the Tower Garden.
   1) I held off filling the resevoir with water until my seedlings are ready to transfer onto the tower. This was recommended because light will enter through the baskets if they are not filled and cause algae to grow in the water.
   2) Once the resevoir is filled with water I will test and set the water pump for the proper level before mixing the nutrient solution. Then I won't have to wear gloves and won't have to get my hands in the nutrient solution once. After the pump is set I will mix the solution and check and adjust the PH.
                                                        3) I decided to start with seeds in the included seed starter. I took the advice offered by the Tower Garden instructions to avoid introducing any potential diseases from potted store plants into my nutrient solution.
    I made a diagram of my seed layout in the minature seed greenhouse. I labeled what seeds I placed into each rockwool pod so that I can later place the right seedlings at the right level. I plan to put my leafy vegetables near the top and my fruiting vines near the bottom with the larger fruits near the back of the balacony so I can train them to climb on the deck rails. Now we wait for those wonderful green sprouts to appear!

My Tower Garden is Here!

It's Here!!

   My Tower Garden has arrived. I am so excited. I have tried a lot of gardening methods including Four Square Gardening, row gardening, raised beds, and indoor hydroponics. Even tried the Garden boxes, which didn't go so well during the year of the drought. I was most successful at my first raised bed four square garden where I mixed my own soil and used garden paths in between each 4x4 bed.
     My indoor hydroponics garden would have been successful if I had only planted greens indoors over the winter. I had the tallest tomato plants and green pepper plants that reached the ceiling, only they refused to set fruit. Since we have moved to the ranch, my gardens have  produced little fruit and what fruit was produced was eaten by insects or destroyed by disease.
  I had all but given up on gardening until I learned about the Tower Garden. It is similiar to the hydroponics garden except it adds vertical gardening. This is the only method I decided to try that was actually recommended by friends I know that are using it instead of just internet testimonies on some website. I have gotten a chance to see and try their produce and it is amazing.
      If you get a chance to see the Tower Garden up close, it doesn't take long to be totally amazed by the amount of wonderful produce in a small amount of space. And not only does it conserve space and water but the produce is the best I have ever seen, even fresher than the farmers market. You can literally take your plate to the garden. It doesn't get more fresh picked than that.
    The science is called aeroponics. Click here to see it  being used at The Land at the Epcot center.  http://thephotogardenbee.com/2010/01/05/aeroponics-gardens-at-epcot-part-iii-the-land/
The Tower Garden was designed using the same technology used at the Epcot center.
   You can follow this blog and see step by step how the Tower Garden works for an amateur and relatively unsuccessful garden like myself. Will I be able to grow From Tower to Table as promised? Let's find out!

Unpacking

   So far so good. The box came in three days which was four days earlier than the expected delivery date. Opening the box I found it well organized, carefully packaged, and easy to remove  by myself. I found the written instructions and a DVD. I proceeded to assembly the Tower Garden in less than 15 minutes. No tools required. The best part was the DVD that came with it had assembly instructions which were extremely simple to follow. No reading required!

Instructions

 

Making sure it's Level

The first thing was to find a level location and set the base out where it can get full sun. Then we added a pump and tube.
     Again I just followed the instructions on the DVD, pausing between steps and following along until the entire Tower Garden was assembled.

Growing sections slide on to rods

I added the rods and then the growing sections to the base. At the top I placed the shower cap on.

Shower Cap

Fully Assembled Tower Garden

The last step was putting in the baskets into each of the 20 growing ports. That is it. So simple. So nice looking on the deck.

   Tomorrow morning we will fill the reservoir and adjust the pump for the proper action. Then we'll mix our solution, check the Ph, and start our seedlings. Follow along and you can see exactly how long it takes to go from Tower to Table!

www.kbrixey.towergarden.com

My Plate

My New French Fries

     Teaching my tummy what our new french fries taste like. That's right I passed up the fast food on way home from shopping tonight. I have this bad habit of eating all the fries while they're hot on the way home. I intentionally grabbed some grapes to substitute for that habit on the way home. Had to be something ready, something sweet, something wonderful to work.
     My son and I both munched on a handful grapes on the trip home from the grocery store. I bought a variety of fruits and vegetables, while avoiding anything with a label. Healthy eating choices start with what you put in your basket and allow in your kitchen. Since I was adamant we were cutting back on sugar and filling our kitchen with wholeness, I let him select his favorite fruits and vegetables to fill up half his plate with while I planned to cook smaller portions of the main dishes we have always loved.
    Get used to it tummy-- the rainbow of Fruits and Vegetables has just replaced your same old colored, white, potatoes cooked in a way that not only increases the caloric intake but destroys much of the beneficial properties. The kitchen is now well stocked with plenty of fresh, whole choices to satisfy any sweet tooth without compromising our overall health.

Say 'Hello' to My Plate:
   The new USDA recommendations for serving proportions on a healthy plate replaces the complicated Food Pyramid and is closer to what I grew up on: the four squares. I love this simple plate design. It's easy to visual, easy to understand, and easy to use.
 
How to use My Plate:
     The first thing to do is make sure you put a lot of healthy fruits and vegetables in your shopping cart. Better yet, head out to your farmer's market this Saturday. Choose fresh, raw fruits and vegetables in a wide rainbow of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, greenish/white, and blue/indigo/violet. It doesn't matter whether you choose a fruit or vegetable in any of the color groups but remember fruits have more sucrose or natural sugar, than most vegetables. Plan your meals around a small portion of lean proteins and whole grains. You can always add dairy by sprinkling with cheese or cooking with a touch of sour cream.
   

My Dinner Plate

    When it's time to fill your plate; start by covering half to three quarters of your plate with fruits and vegetables. Then add your portion of lean proteins and whole grains. Think about your plate when you eat out as well. Instead of getting a salad plate and a buffet plate, how about just getting one plate and filling up one half of your plate with a salad before you head to the buffet line to fill up the other half.
    My dinner plate is an example of carry out food from our local Chinese restaurant. Of course they don't serve salads but before we opened the paper cartons of fried rice and General TSO's Chicken, we covered half our plate with vegetables we had on hand. Then we scooped out a portion of the fried rice and a portion of the General TSO's chicken, and immediately put the rest back in the refrigerator. The next afternoon we had a wonderful lunch to look forward to.
     My Plate is a wonderful way to make sure you are getting more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Remember, adding a wide variety of fruits and vegetables from the color spectrum helps you get the most benefit from the food you eat. The phytochemicals unique to each color offer a variety of defenses and repairs to your body. In addition, they are low in fat, calories, and sodium, high in fiber (which fills you up and helps with the digestive process), they are packed with vitamins and minerals that provide energy, and are cholesterol free.
 

Extra Luggage

    We've been trying to get a handle on simplifying, downsizing, decluttering, and organizing for decades now. Even before the Fly Lady went viral in 2001, there was the Pigpen to Paradise in 1977.  When did stuff become such a problem? As a child, I remember having one shelf in the closet where both my sister and I kept all our games and toys. We shared a dresser and all the clothes we owned between us fit into it and a small closet. I grew up and had no idea what clutter even was.

    Clueless about clutter, I went out into the world. I lived in a dorm room for the first three years where I had a dresser for my clothes and a locker for any valuables I wished to store in a room I shared with three other room-mates. Although my work clothes consisted of a set of military issued uniforms, I did have a small set of civilian attire. When I got married and moved into base housing, the furniture began to accumulate. We bought our first table and chairs for $25 from a lady advertising in the Trading Post. We traded our lawn chairs and milk crates for a donated couch and two end tables. Our tax refund was spent on a new queen size bed. We could still barely afford groceries so even though we were accumulating enough furniture to fit in an average size U-haul we were still a few years off from the clutter bombardment.
    The first time I noticed that clutter was encroaching on our lives was shortly after we had our first child. In addition to the bare essentials; the baby clothes, bottles, walkers, and diapers; we seemed to be taken over by toys. These were not the few toys we could afford to buy for our child but gifts given to them by dotting grandparents and aunts and uncles. By child number three, I had an overflowing closet full of stuffed animals and each  child had their own over-flowing box of toys. By child number three, we had accumulated a few toys ourselves- our first computer with its software and disks as well as our first video player and camera and thier associated video tapes.  With each child came memoribilia that was kept to remember their firsts and ongoing acheivements in every area of their life from sports to academics to just plain cuteness.  As technology changed, so did our paraphernalia but we held on to the old media hoping to convert it's contents to conform to our new media players. With every change, came new toys and gadgets and with every age,came new interests and the accumulation of more paraphernalia and sentimental memorabilia. Soon we were taken over with-- well-- CLUTTER!
   My attempts to contain it by simplyfying failed. The simple life of my uncluttered childhood seemed to vanish as soon as my first child was born into a material world. My attempts to diminish it by downsizing were futile as my fear of getting rid of something I would need in the future persisted. Decluttering attempts failed for the same reason. Organizing temporarily masks the problem until it is obvious that there is just too much clutter to organize. So what is the problem that clutter masks?
   The problem that is never addressed in any of our clutter buster strategies is the underlying reason our clutter accumulates in the first place. What is your motivating factor in keeping what clutters your living spaces? What makes it so hard to part with material objects or papers in their varying forms? Although, when it comes to material things, we know that less is more it is still difficult for many of us to just "let go." How do you know what to keep and what to let go of? How do you determine what is worthy of your time and effort to organize and maintain?
   One way to decide what stays in your life and what to let go of is what I call the suitcase method. Pack a suitcase for a trip and decide what gets to go and what gets to stay. You get to pack a suitcase full of things you will use while you are there and a carry on full of things you will do along the way. The first choice you make is where you are going. Then you can start deciding what kind of things you'll need to take along the way. If you could go wherever you want for two weeks, where would you go? What you put in your suitcase and carry on represent the kinds of things you need most to get you there and to enjoy you're time while you're there. These are the things you should keep more of and everything else represents things you could do with less of.
   This method works very well if you actually take your suitcase on a trip with you. Because you can make a list of the things you wish you would have packed and the things you miss from home while you are gone. The list may include people, pets, or activities you miss while you're away from home. What items did you take out of your suitcase the most and what items didn't you need on your trip? Use the experience to list what is important in your life and when you get home-- clear out the junk that isn't.
   Where are you going in life? Where do you want to be in the next two years? What do you need to get you there and what do you need when you get there? Only keep what you need to make the trip in your "suitcase"-- let the rest go! You will find your trip is much more relaxing and worry-free when you only have to maintain and organize the material things in one suitcase and one carry on bag. Carrying around extra luggage makes life more cumbersome and chaotic!
   
  

A Place Your Heart Can Go Back To

   Every time my husband and I piled the kids into our pick up truck and headed off across the country, it reminded me of a family vacation when I was eight. My father put a camper shell on the back of his pick up truck and built us some bunk beds in the back. My mom sewed up some cushions to go on top. Five kids piled in and set off on a three week adventure to explore the outer reaches of the Northwest. I can't remember many details from the trip but I carry this abundance of joy in my heart whenever I think about it.

    Every time I pitch a campsite,