by BrianBeckley
September 26 2011 04:33
Summer is over, and now it’s fall. Soon it will be time to plant. “What is that crazy talk,” you say? Well, I’m going to plant an indoor garden. I am totally new to this business of sharing my living space with my future dinner. How intimate. And I get to write about it! How cool is that? It’s my hope that this will be fun for all of us.
Why am I doing this? Hydroponic methods grow plants faster. And I really like that with indoor gardening there’s no such thing as out of season - if I want strawberries in January I can have them. I also like knowing where my food came from. The total lack of weeding doesn’t hurt my feelings, either. I’m a busy guy. I’m working, playing volleyball, spending time with my kids, visiting friends, reading, planning another painting, brewing, playing bit parts for Roller Mortis Films, and trying to catch up on Farscape. Like Heinlein said, “specialization is for insects.” Through the fine art of gadgetry I can automate everything. Seriously, hydroponics’ big appeal for me is the whole mad scientist thing. Might even buy a lab coat! Hang a poster of Audrey II (“Feed me, Seymour!”). Where do I start?
Learning stuff, that’s the ticket.
My journey, which will undoubtedly end in my own island stronghold staffed with henchmen (I’ve got the uniforms all picked out) begins with a book. Gardening Indoors with Soil & Hydroponics by George F. Van Patten is fantastic, easy to read and has great reference material. I can’t recommend it enough.
So now that I’m all educated and know what I’m doing, I’m going to go shopping. I’ll tell you all about it next week!
