GreenHab Report 02/06/2013
Melanie Newfield
Some of the snow peas were growing sufficiently well to repot so I filled up one of the large pots with recycled mix at the bottom and the new potting mix at the top. I placed this on the bottom of shelf 9 (the plastic set of shelves) and made some strings running up the side of the shelves so that they can climb. There aren’t a lot of snow pea seeds, so harvesting the very small shoots may not be practical. However if the plants grow a little bigger, crews could have an ongoing harvest of the young shoots and maybe eventually the pods. I also planted another lot of snow pea seeds in the seed raising mix. Unlike the other seeds, these are not on the heat pad but on shelf one, the cold shelf. Snow peas germinate in cooler weather in my experience so while the heat may speed them up, it is probably safer to grow them in cooler conditions – they are less likely to get disease.
One of the pots of swiss chard is thriving, while the other is doing less well. I decided to repot the ones that weren’t doing so well and put them in one of the long tubs.
I’ve got better germination on the seedlings I planted in the new mix than I had with the previous batch. I have microgreens, sweet basil, broccoli, Russian sprout mix and possibly some signs of life from the nasturtiums. The basil that I planted in the first lot are still doing ok though. Clearly basil is tough as long as it is kept really moist.
I’ve pronounced my first go of the easysprout kits a success (after tasting some), and we plan to eat some of the sprouts tonight. I’ve started a second lot, which we may get a chance to eat before we leave, or we may not.
Incidentally, does anyone know if there is anyone in the next crew that is interested in looking after the greenhab or if they are interested in harvesting the sprouts? Angelo and I have put a lot of work into getting the greenhab to a point where it future crews will benefit and it would be nice to keep that going. Also, if the next crew isn’t interested in the sprouts, I’ll clean and dry the units before we go, to avoid a repeat of the rotten sprout situation that arose before!
I’ve used the last of the mung bean sprouts (there weren’t many) and the lettuce leaf basil. There is also very little sweet basil. I also found empty packets of spicy sprout mix, Persian cress and curly cress. It’s good I found the empty packs – they are useful as a reminder to send through to mission control in case you want to order more.
ENDS.