tom has been gathering parts and working to put together an indoor ebb and flow hydroponic setup for growing lettuce and herbs through the winter.

want a tour? i thought so.

first, the seeds of the plants that grew the tastiest stuff this summer get planted and nurtured under a little light on a warming mat, so they can grow some roots:

each little plant grows in a small cup with slots for the roots to grow and hang down through.

then they get transferred into the system:

the water is pumped up from the container on the floor, flows into each of the three black blocks, tickles the plant roots and then flows out the other side of the blocks back into the container on the floor. all the while the leaves bask in the glow of the big white light above. the whole system will be run by timers and the light can be raised and lowered. fancy, no?

everything in the system was obtained either at yard sales for a few dollars, for free (like the ginormous light) or from the hardware store. no off-the-shelf hydroponics for us!

and no more store-bought lettuce, hopefully.

Holy crap you guys!!!

hahaha!
moving to new england made us all sorts of wacky, huh?

“Holy Crap” good or “Holy Crap” bad?

You guys seem to have too much time on your hands….Worms, now gardening, I can hardly wait to see what you come up with when winter sets in! Looks like you’ve done a great job. Hope it works..

Holy crap good, of course. Today was the last day for my mid-week farmer’s market, which I was sad about, so I’m jealous of the home grown veggies you’ll have. (I will still have the weekend one, though). I’m also impressed that you got this put together. And wishing that we could come up with our business plan to make lots of money and work for ourselves.

Cindy, it does not really mean that we have a lot of time. We are doing this as a hobby (at least I am). Other read, play sports, we grow plants :)

Good luck with your crops!