I was trying to come up with ways to save money. One idea that came to mind was to grow my own food. Unfortunately, living in a flat, there is a limit to my options.
It seems I was not the only one thinking about this, and some clever people came up with a working solution. In my mind, a working product is one that works for you. It requires minimal effort, if any, and produces consistent, reliable results.
The AeroGarden line of hydroponics products is exactly that. You set it up in minutes. It then tells you precisely what to do and when. Your responsibility is to provide fresh water and food periodically. And keep it plugged in to a power source. That is it. It even takes care of lighting.
In return, you get herbs or vegetables all year round. My AeroGarden Harvest Classic currently grows Genovese Basil, Curly Parsley, Thyme, Thai Basil and Mint. The Thai Basil and Mint grew so wild I had to saw branches off to keep them from overgrowing. In fact, they grow so fast I have plenty left to share with friends.
Having fresh herbs every day is great. Not having to work hard to get them is even better.
There are plenty of seed kits for the AeroGarden, in case you want to grow something else. Salad greens, salsa veggies, cherry tomatoes and Italian herbs are popular options.
A word of caution, though. Read the instructions. We accidentally trimmed our Basil too much early on, and it struggled to grow back. We had to take it out and plant another. Let your plants grow to a healthy size, and trim them sparingly.
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Optimising My Life 