2022-09-22
I was going to title this "Addendum to the Addendum to the Addendum to a September Farm Report" but even my scents of humor don't stink that much. This is just an update and clarification of the status of the arrangement of the inventory of... it's about what I got, and what I named it.
As of this date, I have SIX Smart Garden-3s, FOUR AeroGarden Harvests with Aerovoir reservoirs, TWO iDOO 12-pod gardens, ONE iDOO bucket, TWELVE Amber 32-ounce Mason Jars with Kratky adapters, and TWELVE clear 16-ounce Mason Jars with Kratky adapters covered with Neoprene Sleeves. The Mason Jars are served by some combination of separate grow lights, including two types of bars and two types of halos.
One may notice that many of the links above go to Amazon. That's just for information. Over half my equipment came directly from Click & Grow or AeroGarden or from Etsy. Some even came from Walmart.
Names
Anyone who has followed this blog at all is aware that I suffer from anthropomorphism. I name inanimate objects. I talk to them. All my hydroponic equipment is named. I will admit that some names are just convenience. It is far easier to refer to Sheba the She-bucket than to the "iDOO 2-in-1 Hydroponics & Soil Growing System, 6 Pods Hydro Indoor Herb Garden Up to 13.8", Plants Germination Kit with LED Grow Lights, Automatic Timer for Kitchen, Countertop, Home." That is just too weird, and way too long.
The Click & Grow Smart Garden-3 units, I already collectively named, “the Smart Garden 3 x 6 Ranch, Bar 0” A.K.A. “the Ranch.” The individual units are not so much named as labeled, Ranch One through Ranch Five and Ranchero Cero (Ranch Zero in Spanish.)
The AeroGarden Harvests are named Harvey (short for Harvest), Harvey Too (a play on Harvey the second and Harvey also), Seble ("Seble (female Eastern African, Amharic) Means 'harvest' in Amharic."), and Teresa (from numerous languages, also means Harvest). Each Harvest is served by a reservoir. They are named for water deities (female). respective to the Harvest they feed, they are named Shirley (short for Chalchiuhtlicue[t͡ʃaːɬt͡ʃiwˈt͡ɬikʷeː] (from chālchihuitl[t͡ʃaːɬˈt͡ʃiwit͡ɬ] "jade" and cuēitl[kʷeːit͡ɬ] "skirt") (also spelled Chalciuhtlicue, Chalchiuhcueye, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") is an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism), Nancy (for Naiad. In Greek mythology, the naiads are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.), unknown (okay), and Anny (for Anuket, the ancient Egyptian goddess of the cataracts of the Nile and Lower Nubia in general, worshipped especially at Elephantine near the First Cataract).
The two iDOO 12-pod units are Phredd and Ethyl after the Mertzes from I Love Lucy. They were obviously a married couple - it said iDOO all over them!
Sheba the she-bucket has been covered. Her name was ludicrous. (Maybe I should have named her "LU," instead.)
That takes us to the Amber Mason Jars. All twelve are named for towns or cities in Texas. Six are in commission, named for unincorporated townships in Mason County. (They're Mason Jars, after all.) They are Art, Fredonia, Grit, Hilda, Katemcy, and Pontotoc. Hedwigs Hill and Loyal Valley aren't in commission yet, nor are Mason (the County seat), Brady (the next town up US-87), Dallas, and Fort Worth.
Finally, there are twelve clear 16-oz. wide mouth Mason Jars wearing neoprene covers to keep the UV rays from feeding algae.Seven of the jars are named for the seven members of the Stone family (Stone-Mason jars!) from Robert A Heinlein's The Rolling Stones, about a lunar family that goes on a vacation to Mars, then the asteroid belt, and outward bound from there. They are Hazel (grandmother and matriarch), Roger and his wife, Dr. Edith Stone, Maude (eldest child), precocious twins Castor and Pollux, and Lowell (AKA Buster, the youngest.) One jar is named for Jennifer Crusie, a favorite author, at the suggestion of eldest grandson, because she lives in New Jarsey.. The remaining four are un-named and not in commission, excess to needs. Six of these jars have individual lighting systems, halo lights.
JENNY of NEW JARSEY
GENOVESE BASIL
Inventory
Inventory falls into broad categories - what seed pods are planted where and what seed pods are available to plant. A third category might be what seed pods are on order, and a fourth might be what hardware is there. I'll start with what's planted and where, using the same list as above
Ranchero Cero: TWO Click & Grow Red Sweet Pepper plants, not in blossom yet.
Ranch One: Some kinda plant in blossom, no fruit.
Ranch Two: One Jalapeno plant in fruit, several ripe peppers harvested, and one Mini Tomato plant in fruit, none ripe.
Ranch Three: Some sort of green plant not in blossom.
Ranch Four: A tomato plant, no blossoms. A Yellow Sweet Pepper with two fruit, one ripening, leaves are all withering. Ripe peppers were harvested.
Ranch Five: One Yellow Sweet Pepper plant bearing fruit. Ripe ones have been harvested.
Harvey: Two prolific Red Fire Pepper plants bearing many peppers in various stages of ripening. Many have been harvested already.
Harvey Too: Three Romaine Lettuce, Two Marvel of the 4 Seasons Lettuce, One Thyme. All -pre-sprouting.
Seble: One Mini-Jalapeño two inches tall. One Jalapeño starting to germinate. One Mini-Jalapeño looking dead and beyond the three-week point.
Teresa: Four Romaine Lettuce, germinated under their domes. One Marvel of the 4 Seasons lettuce mature enough to harvest.
Ethyl: Six Romaine Lettuce germinating under the domes.
Phredd: Cleaned but empty. Waiting for next order of lettuce.
Sheba: One Heirloom Cherry Tomato Plant, under two inches. Sheba was emptied, washed with bleach, and recommissioned with distilled water and 3 mL of nutrients.
Art: AeroGarden Golden Harvest Tomato sprout
Fredonia: AeroGarden Golden Harvest Tomato sprout
Grit: Donated AeroGarden Heirloom Cherry Tomato sprout to Sheba. Empty.
Hilda: AeroGarden Heirloom Cherry Tomato sprout
Katemcy: Click & Grow Wild Strawberry not germinated yet
Pontotoc.: Click & Grow Wild Strawberry not germinated yet
Hedwigs Hill: Not commissioned yet
Loyal Valley Not commissioned yet
Mason: Not commissioned yet
Brady: Not commissioned yet
Dallas, Not commissioned yet
Fort Worth. Not commissioned yet
Hazel: Not commissioned yet
Roger: Not commissioned yet
Edith Not commissioned yet
Maude Not commissioned yet
Castor AeroGarden Romaine Lettuce, sprouted under dome.
Pollux Not commissioned yet
Lowell Not commissioned yet
Jenny of New Jarsey: AeroGarden Genovese Basil not germinated yet
An important note: The Kratky method is NOT recommended for tomato plants except as a starter, which is why the plant in Grit was transferred to Sheba.
The next category is what's available to plant:
Click & Grow Romaine Lettuce, 1 seed pod
Click & Grow Red Romaine Lettuce, 3 seed pods
Click & Grow Red Sweet Pepper, 4 seed pods
Click & Grow Yellow Sweet Pepper, 3 seed pods
Click & Grow Chili Pepper, 2 seed pods
Click & Grow Yellow Tomato, 2 seed pod
Click & Grow Chives, 3 seed pods
Click & Grow Basil, 15 seed pods
AeroGarden Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, 10 seed pods
AeroGarden Golden Harvest Tomatoes, 4 seed pods
AeroGarden Pablano Pepper, 1 seed pods
AeroGarden Bell Pepper, 1 seed pods
AeroGarden Mega Cherry Tomato, 1 seed pods
AeroGarden Italian Parsley, 1 seed pods
AeroGarden Purple Super Hots, 2 seed pods
AeroGarden Gourmet Herb Pouch, 2 pouches of 6 seed pods each
Miscellaneous loose seeds, 4 packets
Hardware:
Spare Sponges suitable for Click & Grow, bring your own seeds, 2 each
Spare Sponges suitable for AeroGarden AND/OR iDOO, bring your own seeds, 120 each
Spare Seed baskets suitable for Click & Grow, 13 each
Spare Seed baskets suitable for AeroGarden only, bring your own sponge/seeds, 13 each
Spare Seed baskets suitable for AeroGarden AND/OR iDOO, bring your own sponge/seeds, 13 each
Spare Click & Grow Hothouse domes, 16 each
Spare iDOO Hothouse domes, 15 each
Spare AeroGarden Hothouse Domes (fits iDOO, too), 150 each (every seed pod kit comes with 1 per seed pod, plus a bottle of nutrients)
iDOO cactus pod covers, 20 each
iDOO regular pod covers, 15 each
AeroGarden pod covers, 50 each
Green Onion Seed Baskets, 12 each
Scallion Seed Baskets, 3 each
Flexible Pod Covers, 40 each, for surrounding plants to keep light off the sponge.
Other stuff, lots and lots. (Thermometers, pH meters, conductivity meters, remote temperature detectors, fast-reading meat thermometers... stuff.)