Ava's new garden

Today I resurrected an old Aerogarden unit that I had stored in the attic. I placed it there thinking that I would give it to Ava at some point in time.

My intention was to try the unit using LED lighting, rather than use the lamp housing and Aerogarden's bulbs. In my opinion, bulbs for these units are a limiting factor, as it is recommended that they be replaced every six months. The cost of a pair of bulbs for this unit is about twenty dollars; adding the price of bulbs to the price of their seeds, the cost of growing anything becomes rather steep. It is common knowledge that LEDs will last for several years, which makes me wonder why the Aerogarden folks did not elect to use them.

As soon as I opened the box I heard: "what's that Pop?" When I explained to Ava what it was, and what I was going to do, she said: "Can I have it?" Well, as that was my intention anyway, it is now Ava's new garden.

Right away she wanted to plant strawberries! I have planted strawberries from seed before, and they take FOREVER! With a little persuasion she settled on Flame lettuce, so we shaped some foam air conditioner weatherseal to fit the pods, planted the seeds, added dilute nutrients, and fired it up.