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Home garden

You Don’t Need Natural Light or a Yard to Grow

Posted:5/7/14
Updated:5/4/14

“I don’t have a yard.”
“I don’t have room to grow.”
“I don’t have natural light in my home.”
“I don’t know when to water.”
“I kill plants!”

I hear these things all the time, including in the comments here on Brooklyn Farm Girl, but I heard them especially often at NYC’s Garden Party which was packed with city dwellers wanting to green their lives.  After they said these things I usually asked:
“Do you have a roof?”.  
“Do you have a fire escape?”
“Do you have a balcony?”
“Do you have any windows?”

It’s rare that all the answers are no, but if they are then I always introduce them to hydroponic growing or just flat out telling them they can grow with artificial lighting.  We have a garden on the roof but we also have a dark corner in our loft that has no natural light.  And in that corner we grow lettuce, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, basil, parsley and more!  So what I’m saying is there are no excuses for not being able to grow.   You just need to try!

I want to introduce you guys to Aero Garden, because even though this is going to sound like a sales pitch, it isn’t, I really do think it’s amazing.  I think it’s great for gardeners of all levels, but especially helpful for beginning gardeners because it’s going to tell you EXACTLY what to do.  It tells you when to water.  It tells you when to add nutrients.  It tells you when to replace your lights.  It tells you how long your plants have been growing for.  It tells you everything. It will literally say on the screen “THIS NEEDS WATER”.  You will add water into a hole and then the “THIS NEEDS WATER” screen will disappear.  It’s that helpful. It’s easy!

I have worked with Aero Garden alongside Miracle-Gro in the past to make some helpful videos to show you how easy it is to set up the garden and then actually grow.  If you guys know me then you know I’m pretty weak so if I can snap all these parts and bulbs into place in a few minutes then trust me, you can do it too.   Even though I have worked with them, I would never advertise to you guys a product that sucks.  After using the Aero Garden for close to a year (lots of testing!) I just had to give it a shout out here so there can be no more excuses for not having light, space or habits of killing plants.  This completely takes care of all these things for you.

The Aero Garden is about $100. I’ve seen them sold at Home Depot if you want to check it out.  I know $100 is not cheap so I consider this a con.  But because the only thing you will have to replace is the bulbs (ours lasted 8 months) it’s going to be reused for years.    You will also need to buy the  Aero Garden seed starter kits that already have the seeds in place so you literally just snap these in (easy).  For more advanced gardeners you can grow everything from seed in the Aero Garden so I just start them outside the machine then replace and snap them into place (MUCH cheaper).  The seed kits they sell are pizza herbs, traditional medicinal herbs, lettuce, strawberry, tomatoes, peppers, every herb you can think of and flowers.  I haven’t tried the strawberries yet but since it’s a new product I think I’m going to give it a shot next in ours.   They also sell a salsa kit which includes cherry tomatoes and jalapenos but I don’t honestly think you’re going to grow enough tomatoes to make a big bowl of salsa.  I mostly used these cherry tomatoes for salads and tacos as I was able to just grab a few and go.  

The coolest part of growing indoors while not worrying about the light is that you can grow 12 months a year. The seasons don’t matter.  During the Winter while the garden was in sleep time we were still able to grab fresh lettuce to eat taco salads with.  

I think the basil grows fantastic in the Aero Garden, possibly even just as good as in a real garden.  We had multiple basil plants that just grew into true plant monsters.  They actually grew so tall that I couldn’t extend the Aero Garden arm to go any higher (it adjusts with plant height). It seems like everytime I would prune the basil plants I’d come back a few days later and they would need more pruning, they just grow and grow and grow.    I think the basil plants really get the best out of your buck as well just because the pure amount of basil you’re going to get.  We’re talking cups of basil at one time. I easily made giant batches of pesto with the basil from these while the plants were still stacked with more basil to pick.  In fact I think I can even say at times I had too much basil which had me cutting some off to dry it for dried basil just so the plants come keep growing.  You’re going to basil crazy people!

Here’s one afternoon of basil I picked!
Aero Garden Basil

Aero Garden Basil_1

And more basil..
Aero Garden Basil_2

Here’s the basil plants before I cut them down.  The funny thing is they grew these tall even with only having 2 lights on instead of the usual 3 for multiple weeks (I was cheap and didn’t want to buy bulbs)! I’m about to replant some new basil and replace the bulbs so we’ll be set for the next batch.
Aero Garden Basil_3

And lettuce grows excellent in it. It’s pretty great to be able to just walk a few feet in your home, grab some lettuce and then go get your grub on.
Aero Garden Basil_4

And this is just herb city.  They grow really well so it can become a great smelling jungle pretty quick.

Lastly, a bunch of cherry tomatoes growing! 

And like I mentioned earlier, I made some videos with Aero Garden last summer so I wanted to post them here as well.  If a goof like me can put these gardens together then you definitely can too.

Then there’s one more video of how to make some delicious salsa. Watch the video until the end where you can see me take a bite, realize it’s extremely hot (I got a jalepeno seed!) then then try to act professional while my mouth is on fire. It worked.. kinda! 😉

 Have you guys seen the Aero Garden yet in stores?  Does anyone have one?    Tell me in the comments!

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  1. Anna Johnston says

    May 14, 2014 at 8:29 am

    WOAH!!! This is amazing. I have never heard of an Aero Garden, but pretty stoked I now have. I spent so many years living in apartments, this is the answer to all those ‘I can’ts’… I want one. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Chris @ Shared Appetite says

    May 12, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    I’ve heard of these Aero Gardens but never really new much about them. Thanks for all the info! Luckily I have a backyard here on Long Island but for all my friends in apartments, this is perfect! And super cool videos!

    Reply
  3. meemsnyc says

    May 10, 2014 at 12:15 am

    I have always wanted to try the Aero Garden, that’s pretty awesome you were able to grow so much from it. But I would never use Miracle-Gro to grow food. I’m committed to growing everything I eat organically. Does it work like that without Miracle Grow?

    Reply
  4. Choc Chip Uru says

    May 9, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    That is SO cool 😀

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    Reply
  5. Sandra says

    May 8, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    I have had an Aero Garden for about 8 years and I love it. They used to carry them in Bed, Bath and Beyond, but I haven’t seen them there in a long time. The company is always offering great sales through their website so I order through them. I would LOVE to get one of the new LED systems.

    Reply
  6. Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods says

    May 8, 2014 at 9:00 am

    Holy mackerel! That is awesome. I’ve seen those, but wasn’t sure if they were a gimmick. Now, I know they are not. I love your tips! They are so helpful!!

    Reply
  7. Joanne says

    May 8, 2014 at 7:59 am

    THis post was the motivation I needed to start aerogardening again!

    Reply
  8. [email protected]'s Recipes says

    May 8, 2014 at 7:10 am

    I would love to have one! Really cool!

    Reply
  9. Katie says

    May 7, 2014 at 8:30 pm

    I NEED one. Period.

    Reply
  10. [email protected] eco friendly homemaking says

    May 7, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    This looks amazing!!

    Reply
  11. Jamie | Jamie's Recipes says

    May 7, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    I LOVE my AeroGarden that I got for Christmas. Eating fresh basil that I grew myself while there was snow on the ground made my heart sing. I’d love to try tomatoes next fall.

    Reply
    • Pamela says

      May 7, 2014 at 8:16 pm

      So happy to hear you are enjoying yours Jamie!

      Reply
  12. Debra says

    May 7, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    You go girl! You tell ’em.

    Reply
  13. Michelle says

    May 7, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    Definitely something I will keep in mind. We are just starting to get settled in our permanent place in Oregon. I would love to start gardening, at least starting with the most frequently used herbs like basil and parsley. Then moving on to tomatoes. I know I will be all over your site looking for tips and advise. 🙂

    Reply
  14. [email protected] Riffs says

    May 7, 2014 at 5:42 pm

    I’ve heard some really good things about Aero Gardens. We’re lucky enough to have a yard, so we do lots of planting there. But that doesn’t help in the winter! I really should think about this for an indoor garden during cold weather. Thanks!

    Reply
  15. Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says

    May 7, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    I don’t have any excuse for growing a garden because I have all of the above (except a green thumb because I do kill plants)! But I am definitely intrigued by this aerogarden. I definitely need to look into it for the few short winter months where I can’t get my basil to grow.

    Reply
  16. [email protected] says

    May 7, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    Well…I admit, I didn’t know that. I’m jealous of all that beautiful basil you grew…
    🙂 ela

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Pamela, an artist Mom who shares family recipes. My farm is a 1,000 sq ft apartment in NYC. Let's make dinner together.

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