About a month into this little experiment, the basil is growing very well. The roots now reach into the bottom of the reservoir, I may have to find another bucket to set the basket into while I am cleaning/refilling the main reservoir. I don’t want to damage the roots while I’m working.

The mildew begins to grow after about three and a half days, and it has been a persistent issue. I have been soaking things down in hydrogen peroxide when I am rinsing/cleaning/changing the water and adding nutrients. I will try to get some more pictures up soon.

About a month in, and growing like a weed.

From Ezra Moore

My air-stone likes to float. Air being pumped into air does nothing to aerate my nutrient solution, so I had to devise a way to secure the stone to the bottom of my reservoir. I had a suction cup attached to metal ring, from an iPhone screen replacement I just did, so I ran the air supply hose through ring and stuck the suction cup to the bottom of the reservoir. Perfect, it didn’t float up to the surface anymore.

The air stone I'm using.

I ran the pumps for a few minutes while I figured out my preferred placement for everything, then I shut it down and left it while my seeds germinated in the closet. When I came back to clean all the components of the system, and put the water/nutrient solution I noticed that the cheap metal ring was already rusting and causing discoloration in the water. I pulled it out of the water, drained and cleaned the reservoir, and thought about what I could do to keep the air-stone down, without introducing rust into the system which would potentially disrupt the balance of the nutrient solution.

The Fix!

The answer, as it often is, was zip ties! I love zip ties. I put a zip tie through the suction cup and around the hose as it went into the back of the air stone. I added another zip tie around the air supply line just behind the other to prevent the first from sliding down the barb of the air-stone and falling off.

Air Stone Fixed!

From Ezra Moore

I picked up some new toys tonight after school:

New toys!

• A light fixture
• Natural temp compact fluorescent
• Vegetable nutrients
• pH test solution
• Rockwool grow media
• Zipties
• Measurement vessel

From Ezra Moore

The seeds are already in the beginning stages of germination. I know the picture is terrible, but you can see a layer of mostly clear matter forming around the seeds. It is most evident around the seed on the bottom right, you can see a brown outline. Very exciting!

The beginning stages of germination in my basil seeds.

From Ezra Moore

Last night, we paid $3.99 for a basil plant (no fresh cut basil available at Fred Meyer) that failed to yield a full cup of chopped basil.

That plant is down to a few tiny leaves (we have tried to keep these live plants from Fred Meyer alive in the past) sitting on the kitchen counter turning brown.

We eat a lot of basil, and it pains me to pay so much for something that grows so readily that we consume so much of.

I’ve always been fascinated by hydroponics. Per Wikipedia, hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.

We live in an apartment, so no garden plot.

We live in the Northwest, so there is no sun to speak of (I kid, I kid… not really).

If we want either of these things (including favorable temperatures) we have to create them for ourselves, which is where hydroponics come in. There are some mainstream solutions, like Windowfarms. I don’t like the Windowfarms solution because it is designed to hang in a window. We have already been admonished (by the property management company) for having a piece of cardboard in our window to prevent the drafty winter air from freezing our sensitive tootsies. A Windowfarm would likely get us evicted. The other thing I don’t like about the Windowfarm design is how rough it looks. I want to have a neat orderly system when I am done, not some Coke bottle monstrosity.

I do not mean to put down the Windowfarm idea, it is great to use found or recycled materials to build your system. It fits perfectly inline with the “grown your own food” mentality.

Since our apartment is entirely carpeted, it is incredibly important that we not have any leaks. There are many types of hydroponic systems, but the one we chose to use is called a top drip system. The top drip system typically sits over its reservoir, which contains the water/nutrient pump and air stone (if you choose to use one).

Reservoir with water/nutrient pump and air stone.

The water/nutrient solution is pumped up from the reservoir into a basket pot that sits atop it. The basket is filled with expanded clay pellets. The clay is practically inert, so it doesn’t effect the pH of the water, nor will it impart any meaningful mineral content to the nutrient solution. The basil will be planted in this basket.

Basil seeds, nutrient pump, air pump, and flow limiting nozzles.

In this photo you can see the basket full of expanded clay. I cut a notch into the bucket rim to allow the tubing and wiring to extend into the bottom of the reservoir.

Here is the clay growth medium with my flow limiting nozzle.

To germinate the basil seeds I wet a paper towel, spread the seeds upon it, and put the whole thing into a plastic container. I will keep it wet, and over the next couple of days the seeds will germinate.

Basil seeds germinating using the wet paper-towel method.

That’s it for today! I’ll post an update when the basil germinates.

From Ezra Moore

Do you want to go somewhere outdoors this Summer to hike or fish or camp? You better plan some pre-activity suffering on your computer. Why? Washington state, in an effort to prevent the closure of 100 of our 119 state parks, has implemented a new paid access plan for parks. For $30 a year (I’ll come back to this) or $10 daily per vehicle per visit. No problem. I usually donate about $55 a year to the state parks system (typically by way of $5 when I renew my vehicle tabs, and various small cash donations at parks). I love to donate to state parks because I love to visit them. I could almost go on forever about how important parks are, and how blessed Americans are to have such a diverse array of culturally and geographically significant regions to experience. But I wont.

What gets me about this park pass is the overall feeling that the parks system is trying to screw the very people who want to support them.

Price
When the flyers, the newspaper articles, and the signs all say that the annual fee is $30 what would you expect to pay for an annual DiscoverPass? Thirty dollars? Me too. The only way to get the $30 price is to find an open ranger booth at your park. Good luck. Better get online and buy your pass ahead of time. Whats the price online? Thirty-five dollars. Where does that extra money go? Not to the parks, it is a “dealer fee.” You can also go to various businesses and get a Discover Pass if you’re willing to pay a dealer fee. Fees vary as the dealer sets their own fee.

Availability
What if you want to pull out on the side of Chuckanut Drive to hike into Fragrance Lake or similar locations? Sorry, you need a pass and the ranger station/camp manager doesn’t even have hours posted. Want to go to DNR lands with no ranger station or management? Remember to purchase your pass online or wherever you pick up your hunting/fishing license.

Transferability
Once you’ve bought the pass you’re free to go. Stick it on the windshield of your Prius and take off, headed for a park. Next weekend, pack up the boat and larger vehicle (more people exposed to our state parks!) and head off for a longer trip. Just don’t forget that you have to buy another Discover Pass. That’s right, each vehicle regardless of the owner, needs its own $30 annual pass.

Now allow me to ask you a simple question. Does any of this make you want to visit one of our state parks? Do you think this encourages new visitors to the park? I don’t. I think the only people that will put up with this hassle will be folks who already have firsthand knowledge of the beauty of our parks. If you enjoy Washington’s state parks, or just the outdoors I urge you to make a donation to the parks by clicking… Oh wait, the state parks system doesn’t have an easy link so that people may donate online. I suggest you still make a donation by sending a check to the address below.

I urge you to buy a Discover Pass and use it. If you get the chance buy it from a ranger and tell them you think that this is the wrong way to go about keeping our parks open. Show the state parks system that we support them. Spread the word about the wonders of Washington’s state parks. Take someone who has never been to a state park to your favorite park! Help instill in people the desire to preserve and protect this gift. Consider joining the Washington Trails Association. Visit their website and find a new hike near you.

Above all, get out there and have fun. Use the parks, or lose them.

Washington State Parks Donation Address:

Washington State Parks
Attn: Park Donation
P.O. Box 42650
1111 Israel Road S.W.
Olympia, WA 98504-2650

From Ezra Moore

I’m headed off to Chelan tonight after work. I will come back with a tan, smelling of camp fire, and with a few pictures I am sure.

I will miss you Katy !

From Ezra Moore

The sky is a beautiful grey color today. I hate overcast days, and this area has a LOT of them, but there is something about today that is just amazing…

From Ezra Moore

Went on a hike a couple days ago with my friend Anna and her 1 1/2 year old son, Koren. We accidentally drove to the top of the hike, so we ended up hiking down the trail a ways, and then back to the top. Let me tell you, a 20 lb baby is about the perfect weight to make a 20% feel like a 40%, haha. That is a nicotine patch on her arm, she is quitting smoking. Anyway, just wanted to share a picture, and test this out.

BTW: This is the baby I blame for getting me sick!

From Ezra Moore