Ok so for my first REAL post topic

I would like to introduce you all to something that I think is pretty cool so far.

I live in an apartment currently & I'm as far as I know not so green-thumbish.  My mom is a Master Gardener aka anything that has to do with gardening, she is the queen.  If it requires very little watering & very little light then I can usually avoid killing a plant.  But I also really like the idea of growing my own food.  It's healthier & cheaper.  I also have never been scared to break a sweat although my body as of late has a harder time keeping up with my mind.


So anyway, getting to the point this was my Christmas present this year.

AeroGarden Extra

Kinda looks like a crazy little spaceship or something, huh?  It's actually called an AeroGarden.  It's pretty much a hydroponic garden.  Well, much simpler I think.  Anyway, I saw this it and was like 'Oh, cool!'.  I am a pretty gadgety, grown up toy loving kind of girl so this was really making me 'itch', so to speak.  So I ordered it for my wonderful Kevin to give to me for Christmas.  I often do this to assure I get what I want and because of other reasons, but that is a whole other topic.  I set it up finally after the holidays calmed down on January 5th. 

It was really easy to put together and get rolling.  It has these little pods with I am assuming a seed of  the vegetable or flower of choice.

The label on top tells what the plant is on the inside.

These are the lights that plug up under the hood.  

They are extremely bright when on.  So bright that we need not have the kitchen or dining room lights on at all when these suckers are working. 

Because the pods have to have at least 16 hours of light per day to grow and I am assuming because the makers of the AeroGardens realized just how mega bright these light bulbs really are, there is a timer feature which allows you to set a particular 8 hour period that the lights are off.  This is a very good thing for apartment dwellers because of the smaller space and possible lack of walls to keep them awake at night.

So after everything is inserted and installed, filled up and fertilized, this is what the AeroGarden Extra looks like when it's plugged in, turned on and all the lights are off in the kitchen and dining room.

Please excuse the dishes and random mess..the maid is on vacation this week.   

So I let it do it's thing, checking it everyday to see if anything interesting had happened.  Not so much until I checked on the evening of November 8th, only three short days later.  Lo and behold, what do I see?  A little sprout coming out of about 4 out of 7 of the pods.  AMAAAAAAZING, huh?  Here is one.

The little cap, aka biodome, on top is supposed to be removed once a sprout pops through the hole in the label.  These little biodomes give the seed the perfect amount of humidity and heat to germinate in a hydroponic environment.  HOWEVER I don't want to do that yet because I'm OCD like that.  So far so good.  I will keep you guys updated on the salad greens' progress.

If you are interested in trying one of these out for yourself or you just want to find out a little more about how they work, seed kits, different garden sizes, etc. check out AeroGarden's website.  Just FYI, if you register your AeroGarden and seed kits, this is their guarantee:

Our Quality Guarantee:
We want you to be completely satisfied. If for any reason you're not satisfied with your AeroGarden purchase, just return it within 30 days for a full refund – no questions asked. We guarantee that your seed kits will germinate. If for any reason they don't, contact us and we'll rush you a new kit (or appropriate seed pods). Call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-476-9669 to arrange for a merchandise return or for questions related to our quality guarantee.

Until next time...