A few years ago I had a countertop "Aerogarden" for herbs. I enjoyed it for a while but ended up giving it to my son.
I got tired of it. The plants did well but needed "tending." After a while I get tired of taking care of stuff and out it goes.
I understand that. We have tried to stay organic and other than hydroponics we have never used a chemical fertilizer but it got to be too much work. its too hot here in Florida to have aquaponics[we tried that too]. Our seed starting ends in Febuary or March. Starts back in sowing seed in August sowed inside the house.Planted out when it cools down.
I actuallystarted this thread because of so much soil depeltion,erosions,polutions now world wide we may want to lead our children and their's into learning new ways. Out water supply along with the above is also in trouble. I'd like to teach them how to grow at least 4crops ,Beans for protien,potatoes for minerals and carbs,tomatoes and some green or yellow veggy. and water preservation. https://healthyplacesbydesign.org/the-roots-of-americas-broken-food-system/ And the communities sowing seeds for a healthier future As each wave of food research adds more nuance to our understanding of what we should eat to reach our full health potential, two enduring trends stand out. First, that no single diet is ideal for all humans. Depending on each person’s ancestors, the genes they randomly inherited from those ancestors, their unique gut ecology, and the interplay of these and other factors, a particular diet may work better for one person than another. Second, that the modern, mainstream American diet in particular is not healthy for anyone. This diet is characterized by high sugar consumption and the replacement of whole grains, lean meats, and natural, healthy fats with low-nutrient refined flours and highly processed meats and vegetable oils. Although it has been difficult to identify direct causes of rising obesity rates, the shift to an energy-dense, low nutrient diet is a significant risk factor.1 Why that shift, though? Enter industrial agriculture. FOOD PRODUCTION Big Ag has some big problems The Union of Concerned Scientists characterizes the dominant food production system in the United States by its “large-scale monoculture, heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and meat production in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations)… [as well as] its heavy emphasis on a few crops that overwhelmingly end up as animal feed, biofuels, and processed junk food ingredients.”2 The consolidation and scaling of farming initial
I have used aerogardens for several years; but didn’t start mine this summer. We have a thread about them. http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/the-aerogardens-i-love-mine.3017/ I have also tried the mason jar type of hydroponics, (Kratke method), and it works well, and is easy to take care of. We talked about turning the little backyard pool into a fish pool and using that for gardening at one time, but we did not ever try doing that. I like the idea of the aquaponic gardening because you can raise fish for food as well as watering and fertilizing your garden; but setting up the system takes a lot of work and more space than we have for something like that. Here is a link to the mason jar method, and there is a lot of good information on the internet, youtube, and even on facebook groups. https://masonjarhydroponics.com/
Your comment about the ideal diet for you may relate to your ancestry I find interesting, @Marie Mallery. I think that is partly true, but it is also true that racial and ethnic groups pass down preferences and recipes from generation to generation regardless of the benefit. You tend to eat what is available, and cuisine develops from that. Black American cuisine developed form what they ha, and what they were permitted, and I think that of New Orleans is different than that of much of the rest of the South. Same can be said for Jewish, Italian, German, Polish, etc. It is possible that gut flora is passed down in some form, and , now that it has been studied using DNA technologies, families tend to develop common gut flora either by living together or by common diet. Have you read Eat According to Your Blood Type ?
You can set up aquaponics in an aquarium inside your home, @Yvonne Smith if you are mostly interested in small yields of salad crops. Two of my sons do that to supply their families with greens during the long winters here.
I'm sure it is too.I can still almost taste the cornbread,collards,creamed corn,etc. of our southern soul food prepared by both black and white recipe's. We'd go to catfish restaurants and order cstfish and hushpuppies.
I was more a fan of the hushpupppies ,cole slaw than the fish.When exspecting Id always get half dozen hushpuppies to take to drive in theratre in place of popcorn. We also liked corn cakes which is just a pancake made from cornmeal instead of flour.I liked to fill my corncakes with onions and serve them with collards or any kind of greens. Also I liked a big slice of raw onion on the side.
Hugelkultur is pretty much what I am using with some of my lupine gardens. I bought my wife an Aerogarden for her birthday (or maybe Christmas, I forget) and she has four of them now. Some plants get too large for the machines before they produce anything but herbs do well in them.
I have a question. I have trouble overwintering plants because of spider mites, white flies and eventually scale. I wonder how you handle them. My thought this year, is to dust everything with diatomaceous earth. But would that hurt the plants as it does the exoskeletons of insects?
I spray mine with a mild solution of Dawn Dish soap top and underneith.I think some use baking soda too but not sure so check it first.
It should actually add minerals to your soil, since it comes from tiny sea creatures. I have used it on plants, and also added some to dog food because it kills worms and parasites in dogs and other animals.