Seed Starting Guide & Checklist
Get an early start on your garden by starting your seeds indoors. This in-depth guide features all the supplies and steps needed for successful seed starting.
Author: thefoodmartyr
Aeroponics Recap: Lettuce – Mesclun Mix
Let’s recap what stood out to me about this growing method. I’ll weigh in on how it differed from growing outside and judge how it tastes. You’ll also see what we plan to grow next!
Food Justice Friday – What is a CSA?
On our last Food Justice Friday, we took a look at co-ops, stores that are redefining the typical grocery store system. Today, we will examine another effort to connect consumers to producers within our food system: community-supported agriculture, or CSA. Keep reading to find out why you should join one and how to find a CSA share near you.
The community supported agriculture movement began in the United States during the 1980s with The CSA Garden at Great Barrington in Massachusetts. Currently, there are over 12,500 CSA farms in the United States.
A CSA is a subscription based service, where a consumer will subscribe to a share of a local farm’s harvest. In general, a CSA subscription entitles a subscriber to a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce from a local farm. However, some CSAs will also include items such as dried goods, eggs, milk, meat, honey, flowers, etc. This “mix and match” market style is becoming increasingly popular.
This community supported model comes with many advantages to both consumer and producer.
Consumer advantages:
- Exposure to fresh, local food – Because food is coming from a local farm, it is going to be fresher than food typically offered at a conventional big box store.
- More diverse fruit and vegetable consumption – CSAs encourage consumption of a variety of produce, especially since produce will be picked out for the consumer. This process can encourage subscribers can try new recipes with in-season produce.
- Community support and relationship building with local producers – CSAs are a method of bridging the gap between an average consumer and a farmer. This community based agriculture method gives consumers greater insight about how and where their food is grown.
Producer advantages
- Advance marketing – CSA shares are marketed and sold prior to the growing season, allowing for advance revenue streams and exposure prior to the busy season.
- Discourages food waste – CSAs are another method to mitigate crop waste, aside from traditional markets.
- Community support and relationship with local consumers – CSAs allow for relationship building between farmers with the people who eat the food they grow.
The CSA model is based on the concept of shared risk. In this model, members pay up front for the whole season (typically $300-$500 for four months) and the farmers do their best to provide an abundant box each week. However, this is not guaranteed. If offerings are slim or crops do not fair as well as farmers hoped, members are not reimbursed from the farm.
This risk (along with the upfront subscription payment) can discourage a food insecure household from participating in a CSA, especially if they are relying on the CSA as their primary source of produce. Some farms have worked out payment plans and/or volunteer hours in exchange for the subscription fee.
If a CSA seems doable for your household, you should absolutely give it a shot! This time of year is perfect for finding a CSA near you and signing up.
To find a CSA near you, use the Local Harvest search by using the QR code below, or visiting bit.ly/CSAsearch
Food Justice Friday – What is a Food Co-op?
If you’ve ever looked into an alternative to your traditional “big box” grocery store – whether you’re shopping for bulk items or natural foods, you’ve probably heard of a “co-op.” What makes these grocery stores different than your traditional stores? Let’s take a look.
Food Justice Friday – SNAP, WIC & EBT
SNAP, WIC and EBT – what’s the difference? Take a look at how these federal programs to address a big question – How do we give Americans access to nutritious food?
Everything you Need to Build an Aeroponics System at Home
I’ve included a guide of all of the supplies you need to get started, with info on where to purchase.
Last week, we explored Aeroponics 101 and why this new, innovative growing method is taking off among farmers. Are you wondering what you need to build a system at home? To get started, check out our Home Setup Tour Video below on YouTube.
Tub: Some people will say you can use any tub, but to be safe, you want to get one that is as close to food grade as possible. When shopping for a plastic tote, you will need to look at the bottom of the tote and refer to the number. This is important because you are going to eat the food you grow and you don’t want to leach any harmful chemicals into the water and then subsequently into the food.
Look for either: Number 2 aka High Density Poly ethylene or Number 5 aka Polypropylene
Our tub is a 27 gallon Sterilite brand tub that we purchased at Target. It is a number 5 plastic. It holds about 10 gallons of water in it at any given time.
Another important thing to make sure when you are looking for your tote is that it is opaque. Translucent totes will allow sunlight in, which will cause algae to grow.
Light: We use a 600W Full Spectrum LED light hooked up to your standard outlet timer. We use a stand to help adjust the light and move it up and down as needed. The stand, which we purchased on Amazon, included a smaller light, which you can use for starting the seedlings. You can find the light, outlet timer and stand on Amazon below:
Currently, we are using a reflective shade that you would put on your dashboard in your car to reflect the light onto the plants. There are more professional and better looking alternatives. I have one linked below if you’d like to explore a better option. These options give your system more climate control, increasing humidity and reducing light loss. Depending on what you are growing, some plants may require complete darkness, and a tent can help achieve that.
App for measuring light
Each plant requires different light measurements. Korona is app you can download to measure the amount of light your plants are receiving under your current conditions
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/korona-grow-light-meter/id1450079523
Growing Medium: Our growing medium is a combination of rockwool and clay pebbles. Inside of each of the 12 nets, we have one cube of rockwool which contains our seedling. We then have some of these clay pebbles on top. The clay pebbles are there to help give the pod a little more structure, but also to keep out light from entering the tub and causing algae to grow.
Grow Nets: We use 12 2 inch plastic grow nets; these hold your seedlings and the grow medium
Once we acquired our tote and knew how many plants we would grow, we then had to prepare it for growing. To do so, we had to drill out the circles on top for each of the pods. To do so, you will need a drill and a 2 inch bi metal hole saw, linked below.
Tip: you can drill the holes in reverse for a cleaner cut because the plastic is thin.
Okay, so that is everything we have going on on the outside of the box, now let’s take a look inside.
Manifold and Sprayers: Each tote is different, but to be safe, you will need at least 15 feet of PVC pipe to build what we call the manifold, system of 16 sprayers that delivers nutrient rich water to the roots of every plant. You can purchase PVC at the hardware store, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. There are twelve 180 degree sprayers and four 360 degree sprayers. This spraying system is what makes the entire system aeroponic. For more information on how to build your inner manifold, please refer to the linked video from The Family Plot. We modeled our inner system on theirs, and it worked out really well.
We purchased our sprayer heads from Lowes. You can also purchase them from Amazon below:
Pump: We happened to have a 25 w aquarium pump on hand and repurposed it for this project, but I have linked a submersible water pump below. The pump is needed to move the water around from inside the tub to deliver the nutrients to the roots of your plants.
Filter Bag: On the outside of the pump, we have a fine mesh filter bag that covers the pump to filter out and particles to prevent clogging. We purchased ours on Amazon.
Programmable Digital Timer Switch: We use this to control how often the pump goes off and pushes the water through the manifold. Currently, we have it set to go off every five minutes for twenty seconds. We purchased our timer switch on Amazon.
Nutrients We use these three from General Hydroponics. They make it super easy to mix them in the water by giving you the instructions right on the label for each stage of growth.
TDS Tester: Measures the number of total dissolved solids in the water. This allows us to make sure that the plants are taking up the nutrients in the water. We purchased our tester on Amazon.
PH Test Kit: We use this to regualry test the PH of the water. Optimal grow conditions for our lettuce are between 5.5 and 6.5.
Bucket: food grade 5 gal bucket to transfer water; we got ours at Home Depot. Firehouse Subs also sells their pickle buckets if you’re looking for another place to buy a food safe bucket
Notebook and Pen: This is pretty self explanatory, but these are good for tracking our TDS, our pH levels, etc.
Food Justice Friday: What is Food Sovereignty?
What better time to ring in the New Year with a new Food Justice Friday? Today, we’ll explore another food justice movement: food sovereignty. What is it, and what does it look like here in the United States?
Aeroponics: A New Growing Method
We are exploring a new method of growing vegetables: aeroponics! Learn the basics of this indoor growing system that will allow us to grow vegetables indoor, year round.
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Did you know making your own vanilla extract only takes two ingredients and a little bit of time?
Vanilla extract gives incredible flavor to baked goods and is an essential ingredient to so many desserts, so I thought, “why not try and make our own?” This Christmas, John and I had the idea to make a big batch of homemade vanilla extract and give it as gifts. I’m going to show you how you can do the same using time and just two ingredients: vanilla beans and vodka.
Keep reading to learn all of the supplies you’ll need with links to what we used, as well free printable labels for gift giving.
Supplies:
Vanilla Beans: You can find these in the spice aisle at the grocery store, or perhaps in the bulk aisle at your local co-op. It’s also really easy to find them online. For our batch we used Tahitian vanilla beans linked below:
Vodka: There is no need to splurge on expensive vodka here; really, any brand will do. Just do not use a flavored vodka.
Glass Bottles or Jars with Tight Seal: I recommend an eight ounce bottle. The bottle linked below is very similar to the one we used for storage and features a convenient swing top with a tight seal.
Bormioli Rocco Swing Bottle, 8.5 oz, Clear
Funnel: A funnel makes pouring much easier. Trust me.
*If you’re giving vanilla extract as a gift
Small Glass Bottles: we used these 2 ounce bottles, linked below
Instructions
Making the extract is as simple as taking your vanilla beans, pouring the vodka over them, and placing the mixture in a dark place for at least eight weeks. It’s really that simple. The one important thing to keep in mind, however, is the ratio of vanilla beans to vodka. Use 6 vanilla beans per every 8 ounces of vodka.
The best part about this recipe is that it’s the gift that keeps on giving. As you use the vanilla extract, don’t throw away the vanilla beans. Simply refill the bottle up with more vodka each time. Be sure to shake it before and after each use.
Free Printable Labels
For an added touch, feel free to download the labels we used and add them to your very own homemade vanilla extract. These labels fit Avery 22877 Print to Edge 2” diameter round labels, linked below.
It’s really that easy! We hope you enjoy this recipe. Have a safe and happy holiday.
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Make your very own vanilla extract at home with just two ingredients
Ingredients
- 6 vanilla beans
- 8 ounces vodka
- 8 ounce botle with lid, tightly sealed
Instructions
- Slit the beans lengthwise down the middle. If needed, cut beans in half to fit into the bottle.
- Place beans in bottle. Using a funnel, pour the vodka on top of the beans until fully submerged. Close the bottle and feel free to give it a couple of good shakes.
- Store the mixture in a dark place out of sunlight for a minimum of eight weeks.
- Note: You can make a bigger batch. Remember to use 6 vanilla beans per every 8 ounces of vodka.
Notes
As you use the vanilla extract, you can refill with more vodka each time. Shake it before and after each use.
Food Justice Friday: What are Food Deserts?
For our second Food Justice Friday, we take a look at America’s food deserts. What are they, and why are they a problem?
