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Writer's picturegarysjordan

My October, 2024 Farm Report



The farm occupies the shelves of three Amazon Basics 4-Shelf Adjustable, Heavy Duty Storage Shelving Units on 3'' Wheel Casters, Metal Organizer Wire Rack, 36" L x 14" W x 57.8" H, Chrome. One of the units traded poles with other similar units to be a little taller. None of the three are configured for four shelves - the garden units require more vertical space than that would allow. Two shelves on each unit are at the bottom, with one middle shelf and one top shelf.

Horizontal shelf usage required shuffling of the types of units. The narrower AeroGarden Harvests Were redistributed to each share a shelf with a wider Lyko unit or iDOO unit. That gave all three Lykos and one iDOO more room.

The remaining iDOO units occupy half of the third shelving unit, sharing with the six-pod bucket and an amber quart Mason jar. The fourth iDOO is disassembled and retired. Likewise, the fourth Lyko-style unit (the QYO.) The retired units may provide spare parts. a photo is labeled with the new layout. Click on the photo for a larger image.

Chains and dowels will be used to create lattices or trellises as needed.

Various hydroponics retailers (and ETSY) will happily sell you some arrangement of Tinkertoy knock-off. I've used a set of straws with connectors and even bought one of the professional sets for Aerogarden. But best work-around overall is a set of chains and dowels. 36" dowels cut in half to 18" inserted through the links of chains more than support whatever limbs or branches the larger plants - tomato plants - send out. Even so, the one set I had assembled now provides support for the two Heirloom Red Cherry Tomato plants in amber Mason jars.

The plant in Katemcy is seven inches tall already, and the one in the second jar has just sprouted. See the two tiny leaves? Note that both jars are connected to AeroGarden reservoirs.


ELEVEN Aerovoir reservoirs

All active gardening units have a dedicated reservoir. There is one spare. The units are:


  1. Shirley [Shirley is short for Chalchiuhtlicue ("She of the Jade Skirt"), an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism.] She is serving Katemcy.

  2. Nancy [Nancy is from 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.] She is serving the narrow mouth amber Mason jar..

  3. Anny [Anny is 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] She is serving Liam.

  4. Amy [for Amphitrítē, the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and her consort is Poseidon. ... She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys)] Amy serves Seble.

  5. Tethy [In Greek mythology, Tethys (/ˈtiːθɪs, ˈtɛθɪs/; Ancient Greek: Τηθύς, romanizedTēthýs) was a Titan daughter of Uranus and Gaia, a sister and wife of the Titan Oceanus, and the mother of the river gods and the Oceanids. Tethy is Teresa's servant.

  6. Celia [from Scylla. Scylla is first attested in Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus and his crew encounter her and Charybdis on their travels. Later myth provides an origin story as a beautiful nymph who gets turned into a monster.] Harvey Too enjoys the services of Celia.

  7. Lassy [Lassy is from Thalassa- primeval spirit of the sea. She was a consort of Pontus and together they presided over the seas.] She is serving Faith.

  8. Doris [Named for Doris, a sea goddess.] Serving Cecile.

  9. Ariel [named for the Disney princess] Serving Madison.

  10. Lori [named for Superman's mermaid college girlfriend, Lori Lemaris.] Serving Harvey .

  11. The un-named Aerovoir will be named and dedicated to the bucket


The four Harvests have a base which contains the various controls for the units. That raises the container enough to require the Aerovoir's pedestal to raise the reservoir to the proper height to maintain the proper level in the container.

The iDOOs are short. The pedestal is not employed, and the containers must be raised about ½". Similarly, the QYOs and LYKOs are short. No pedestal and raised units like the iDOOs.

I am experimenting with a reservoir and the one gallon bucket mentioned below.


 


Aaden - ONE GALLON BUCKET with iDOO 6-POD DECK and TWO GROW-LIGHTS (1-RED, 1-BLUE)

Aaden has been outfitted with a level indicator and attached to the eleventh reservoir, as yet unnamed.

  • 1 AeroGarden Jalapeño Pod as of 2024-08-15

Location: Storage Unit A, Upper shelf left.

 

TWO Amber Mason Jars with lights. Katemcy is being used solely as a germinating bed. The pod is then transferred to a larger unit. It is also positioned to augment the lights of a unit that has overgrown plants such as Seble and Teresa.

  • 2 AeroGarden Heirloom Red Cherry Tomato Pod as of 2024-08-31

Location: Storage Unit A upper left.


 



If there is no other advantage to an iDOO 12-pod unit, it stands out from the rest by having a built-in fan to help with pollination. I saw the effect last year with Sheba before she died. So many tomatoes!


Justice (formerly Lulu):

Justice is fallow at this time.

Location: Storage Unit A lower shelf left.


Liam (formerly Lucy):

Liam contains ten Green Onion Pods.






Location: Storage Unit B lower shelf left.


Lillian (formerly Lupe):

Lillian is fallow at this time.

Location: Storage Unit A upper shelf right.


 

 

Seble: [Seble is a female Eastern African, Amharic name that means Harvest] Seble has a height extender from Etsy. Seble is fallow because of a Green Slime outbreak. She's circulating water with bleach.



Location: Storage Unit C upper shelf right.


  1. Empty Pod.

  2. Empty Pod.

  3. Empty Pod.

  4. Empty Pod.

  5. Level Indicator.

  6. Empty Pod.



Harvey Too: [Harvey Too is a play on Harvey the second and Harvey also] Harvey Too has a height extender from Etsy.

Location: Storage Unit C lower shelf right.

  1. Empty Pod.

  2. Empty Pod.

  3. Empty Pod.

  4. Empty Pod.

  5. Empty Pod.

  6. Empty Pod.


Teresa: [Teresa in numerous languages, also means Harvest] Teresa has a height extender from Etsy.

Teresa is fallow at this time.

Location: Storage Unit B upper shelf right.

  1. Empty Pod.

  2. Empty Pod.

  3. Empty Pod.

  4. Empty Pod.

  5. Empty Pod.

  6. Empty Pod.


Harvey: [Harvey is short for Harvest] Harvey has no height extender.

Harvey is fallow at this time.

Location: Storage Unit B lower shelf right.

  1. Empty Pod.

  2. Empty Pod.

  3. Empty Pod.

  4. Empty Pod.

  5. Empty Pod.

  6. Empty Pod.

 


THREE Lyko-Style 12-pod Units


Cecile [Named after my aunt/mother's sister] Cecile has a Lyko body and lights but a QYO deck.

Location: Storage Unit B upper shelf left.

  1. Empty and covered.

  2. Empty and covered.

  3. Empty and covered.

  4. Empty and covered.

  5. Empty and covered.

  6. Empty and covered.

  7. Empty and covered.

  8. Empty and covered.

  9. Empty and covered.

  10. Empty and covered.

  11. Empty and covered.

  12. Empty and covered.


Faith [Named after my eldest grandchild]

Location: Storage Unit C upper shelf left.



  1. Empty and covered

  2. Empty and covered

  3. Empty and covered

  4. Empty and covered

  5. Green Pepper Plant

  6. Empty and covered.

  7. Empty and covered

  8. Green Pepper Plant

  9. Empty and covered

  10. Empty and covered

  11. Empty and covered

  12. Empty and covered


Madison [Named after my second grandchild]

Location: Storage Unit C lower shelf left.



  1. Empty and covered.

  2. Empty and covered.

  3. Empty and covered.

  4. Yellow Pepper Plant

  5. Empty and covered.

  6. Yellow Pepper Plant

  7. Empty and covered

  8. Empty and covered.

  9. Empty and covered.

  10. Empty and covered.

  11. Yellow Pepper Plant

  12. Empty and covered.


 

THREE Four-inch Fans

The iDOO units all have built-in fans. None of the others do. I'm currently employing three 4" fans to facilitate pollination in the units containing fruit-bearing plants. (And it is working!)

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