Waste and growing my own food

I used to waste a lot of store-bought vegetables! Know what I mean? I'm sure we all have that browning head of lettuce in our fridge and are watching 3/4 of our parsley or basil bunch turning right before our eyes. Such waste!

Wanna eat fresh veggies, reduce waste, learn about the circle of life, work outdoors, be more self-sustainable, live a healthier lifestyle? Consider growing your own food! No matter what the kind of garden, as Martha Steward says, "It's a good thing." I have an aquaponics setup but I also have fruit trees (tangerines, papapya, star fruit, pomelo, etc.) and traditional garden beds and I'm able to pick only what I need, when I need it. Of course, I have to eat more seasonably, but that's part of the circle of life and takes some getting used to. Okay, I know I'm spoiled because I have to constantly fight the urge to demand what I want when I want it ... but that immediacy is just an artifact of the un-sustainable nature of our food system. I have to remind myself of that.

At three weeks

The roots are starting to grow into the nutrient water that is being aerated using a small air pump that pumps air through a hose, through an aerating stone at the bottom of this 30 gallon tub. The clips on the side are keeping the lid on, otherwise, the pressure and weight of all that water would bowl out the tub and pop the lid off. At the moment, it is totally dark in there, retarding any algal growth inside the water. This lettuce was developed at the University of Hawaii but the stalk is rather thin and not hearty at all. It may because of the reduced light on my front porch, resulting in a spindly stem. I'm going to try another kind of lettuce next time.

I already clipped some lettuce leaves for a salad. Niiiice!

At two weeks

Hydroponics or bust!

This is hydroponics for dummies. Seriously. It's a deep water culture method and seems to be easy enough for beginner, like moi.  I will have to explain the set up in another post since I'm trying to get a drawing done but essentially, this is a 30 gal tub filled with water and nutrients with air pumped through an airstone to circulate and aerate the water. Theoretically, the roots grow down into the water and grow like mad.  They are supposed to vegetate much quicker than in soil so we shall see. This is the first picture I took a week ago. You will be amazed how fast they've grown since. Stand by for more!

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This is why they say not to put undiluted worm leachate on your plants! Sheesh, I know what I read but MY plants are tough and hearty and can withstand just about anything because I love em so much! Right? LOL Yeah, reality hurts sometimes.

I've only lost 3 plants. The others are fine. So, let this be a lesson, dilute your worm leachate before watering your plants. I tried to leach the stuff out of the soil by watering it a lot so we'll see if that works.

Name that fruit!

Our Farmer's Market rocks!!!! I don't know the name of all these fruit but I bought them at my local farmer's market in downtown Hilo at the corner of Kamehameha Highway and Mamo Street. The market is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays but you can find vendors there throughout the week. It's a great place to find organic fruits and vegetables and on a practical level, the produce is really inexpensive so very easy on the pocket book. Supporting our local farmers is a great way to promote island subsistence and get inexpensive super fresh produce. For example, you can usually get 3-6 solo or rainbow papayas for $1! I spring a little more for my daily strawberry papaya but they are still only 4 for $2!

Ok, here is the list from top to bottom, counterclockwise in each bowl (some of the fruit is imported but most are locally grown):
Bowl 1: Kabocha pumpkin
Bowl 2: Strawberry papaya, purple sweet potato, ginger, tomatoes, mandarins
Bowl 3: Persimmons, pulasan, dragon fruit (yellow pitaya), dragon fruit (red pitaya), rambutan
Bowl 4: longan (Tiger's eye)

I LOVE Worm Poop!

Worm poop. Yeah, you know that stuff that goes in one end of an earthworm and then out the other? If you take issue with "worm poop" you could call it "worm castings". Worm castings are high in nitrogen and in a form that is readily taken up by plants so they make a great fertilizer. I read online that you could also use "worm leachate" for fertilizer (or what I call worm poop sludge). It is that liquid that drips out the bottom of your worm bin. Admittedly, it doesn't smell at all but it looks like crap! So I tried it and well, the results are obvious. All of the plants are the same age. I treated the ones on the left side of the pic with leachate a couple weeks ago and the ones on the right only this weekend. If your plants looked anything like this, I bet you'd love worm poop too!

These marigolds were grown from seeds from my wonderful friend Kate Rietz.

* Note that this worm bin leachate can actually be harmful to your plants if it has material that is still decomposing, which produces alcohols that are toxic to plants. You take your chances tho'. You can guarantee your results by making your own "worm tea" by putting mature worm castings in cheesecloth and soaking the ball in water that is aerated with an air pump and air stone for awhile.