The Aerogarden Experiment, Day 1

You might be a food writer if your Christmas gifts consist of ceramic knives, waffle irons and an Aerogarden, which I just got around to setting up today. Three seasons out of the year, I tend a modest container garden of veggies and herbs, but once winter rolls in, most of my plants go kaput. While hardy herbs like rosemary and lavender will live through the winter, delicates like basil, parsley and cilantro â" the ones I use most in cooking â" forfeit at the first sign of frost, like the Dolphins playing the Packers in December. Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer var so = new SWFObject("http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf", "PictoBrowser", "500", "500", "8", "#FFFFFF"); so.addVariable("source", "sets"); so.addVariable("names", "aerogarden"); so.addVariable("userName", "adamerace"); so.addVariable("userId", "30407112@N02"); so.addVariable("ids", "72157625666923603"); so.addVariable("titles", "on"); so.addVariable("displayNotes", "on"); so.addVariable("thumbAutoHide", "off"); so.addVariable("imageSize", "medium"); so.addVariable("vAlign", "mid"); so.addVariable("vertOffset", "0"); so.addVariable("colorHexVar", "FFFFFF"); so.addVariable("initialScale", "off"); so.addVariable("bgAlpha", "8"); so.write("PictoBrowser110110134511"); Recognizing the plight of her urban-gardener fiance, my girl hooked it up with this spiffy seven-seed Aerogarden deluxe. Will it be the answer to the Zone 7 grower's prayers, or just another piece of schlock peddled to middle American on late-night paid programming? I should find out over the next four weeks. First, I had to put the beast together. Fortunately, Aerogarden assembly is a friend of instructional-booklet ADHD sufferers. When new toys arrive, it's usually a matter of minutes before I'm at the eye of a torn-cardboard hurricane, surrounded by packing peanuts, haphazardly assembled parts and blood; the Aerogarden was so easy to put together, it practically assembled itself. Four pieces (base, seed basin, adjustable arm, light canopy), four steps of common-sense connecting. Once the Aerogarden was together, I filled the basin with water and two nutrient tablets; inserted the seven seed pods from the âInternational Basilâ collection â" tres cosmopolitan! â" and covered them with the little âbiodomesâ [insert Pauly Shore joke here] that help the seeds sprout. I adjusted the grow light arm to bring the lamp as close to the seeds as possible, plugged it in, put the machine on the "herbs" setting and sat back. The Aerogarden works on a 16-hour light cycle, meaning my basil septuplets (Genovese, Thai, Marseilles, globe, Neopolitano, Red Rubin and lemon) will get all the artificial sun they need to grow up big and strong and make daddy proud. If all goes according to plan, each plant should sprout within a week. Stay tuned. The Aerogarden Experiment: Day 35 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper Posted 2011-02-14 13:35:28

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The Aerogarden Experiment, Day 1

POSTED: Monday, January 10, 2011, 6:46 PM

Filed Under: Product Placement

You might be a food writer if your Christmas gifts consist of ceramic knives, waffle irons and an Aerogarden, which I just got around to setting up today. Three seasons out of the year, I tend a modest container garden of veggies and herbs, but once winter rolls in, most of my plants go kaput. While hardy herbs like rosemary and lavender will live through the winter, delicates like basil, parsley and cilantro â the ones I use most in cooking â forfeit at the first sign of frost, like the Dolphins playing the Packers in December.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Recognizing the plight of her urban-gardener fiance, my girl hooked it up with this spiffy seven-seed Aerogarden deluxe. Will it be the answer to the Zone 7 grower's prayers, or just another piece of schlock peddled to middle American on late-night paid programming? I should find out over the next four weeks. First, I had to put the beast together. Fortunately, Aerogarden assembly is a friend of instructional-booklet ADHD sufferers. When new toys arrive, it's usually a matter of minutes before I'm at the eye of a torn-cardboard hurricane, surrounded by packing peanuts, haphazardly assembled parts and blood; the Aerogarden was so easy to put together, it practically assembled itself. Four pieces (base, seed basin, adjustable arm, light canopy), four steps of common-sense connecting. Once the Aerogarden was together, I filled the basin with water and two nutrient tablets; inserted the seven seed pods from the âInternational Basilâ collection â tres cosmopolitan! â and covered them with the little âbiodomesâ [insert Pauly Shore joke here] that help the seeds sprout. I adjusted the grow light arm to bring the lamp as close to the seeds as possible, plugged it in, put the machine on the "herbs" setting and sat back. The Aerogarden works on a 16-hour light cycle, meaning my basil septuplets (Genovese, Thai, Marseilles, globe, Neopolitano, Red Rubin and lemon) will get all the artificial sun they need to grow up big and strong and make daddy proud. If all goes according to plan, each plant should sprout within a week. Stay tuned.

The Aerogarden Experiment: Day 35 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-02-14 13:35:28

[...] basil! It's been a little more than a month since I planted my Aerogarden, and I need only ogle the seasonally implausible snapshot above to answer my original question: Does [...]

Lauren

Posted 2011-02-14 15:50:49

Wow! I've been wanting one of these. Just saw your end product. May I ask if this is sucking up your electricity bill?

The Aerogarden Experiment, Day 14 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-01-25 16:24:26

[...] been two weeks since I “planted” my Aerogarden, and my seven little Jurassic Park basil embryos have all sprouted. As promised, like periscopes, [...]

Posted by Adam Erace @ 6:46 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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