June 17th: This will be a tomato?!

Hard to believe that this little yellow blossom will be a tomato.  

I mean, where does the red come from? 

 My MiracleGro plants have 3 blossoms. My Better World plants have 5 blossoms. 

 My strawberries on plain water still have not borne fruit. But there is a new shoot coming up. Maybe by the end of July?  

 Strawberries on MiracleGro are finally getting some colour. With poor shape. 

 Strawberries on Better World are blooming for the second round! 

 These strawberries on Better World (mixed into the soil) are doing great. 

June 14th: Boom! Now THAT’S a strawberry!

As promised, today’s report is a taste-test of my first, albeit minor, harvest. 
At a glance, the romaine lettuce looks pretty much the same throughout the test group.

The difference is in the strawberries. The MiracleGro gave me this single, deformed little fruit the size of a blueberry.  

 Better World Plant Food gave me a full-sized, properly formed berry roughly twice the size of the deformed MiracleGro berry.

 The taste test was limited to comparing two berries and some lettuce. Not too exciting, but it’s only been a few weeks. I used Naya water as a palate cleanser, since the local Toronto tapwater has noticeably increased its chlorine content in the last 2 weeks (this happens every summer, when the bacteria levels increase with the heat. But that’s another story). 

I assumed that the lettuce raised only on water is “normal” ie: what it should taste like, and so used that as my benchmark. And...

Face it— plain lettuce is pretty boring and neutral in taste. Like the plain leaf it is.

The MiracleGro lettuce had a slight bitterness to it, something like a dandylion leaf. Not exactly unpleasant, but not at all appealing either, if you follow me. 

The lettuce grown on Better World tasted identical to the neutral, water-fed lettuce. So I guess that’s good.

Now, the berries... 

these had flavour! Both of them. Kind of party-in-your-mouth, I-remember-this-taste-as-a-kid flavour. There was just a whole lot more berry with the Better World. 

So at this stage, I don’t think I have enough food samples to give a fair judgement on the taste superiority of one over the other. 

So I made a salad. (The tomato is from IGA.) Added a little salt, and Austrian pumpkin seed oil (mmmmm-mmmm good!).

When I get my own crop of tomatoes in, I plan to invite some celebrity chefs over for a blind taste-test. I’m guessing this will be in another month or so. How long does it take for a tomato to grow, anyway? 

In the meantime...

who wants to join me for dinner?

June 13th: Berries and lettuce ready for harvest.

Today’s post is mostly pictures, because I’m too distracted, watching Vancouver blowing their 3 game lead over Boston. 

 It’s a jungle in here! Miracle Gro on left, Better World on right. 

 The beans are coming along great. (On Better World).

 Eggplant & fig tree, basil on Better World.

 Strawberries, water only.

 Strawberries, on Miracle Gro.

 Strawberries, on Better World.

  Strawberries, on Better World.

I’d say at least one of these is ready for the taste test. Tomorrow! 

My marigolds are buried in the shade of the tomatoes. But they still seem happy on Better World.  Not so happy on MiracleGro.

 Marigolds on Better World. 

 Marigolds on Better World. 

  Marigolds on Miracle Gro. 

 Marigolds on Miracle Gro.

Lettuce ready to serve!

 L to R: water only, MiracleGro, Better World.

 L to R: water only, MiracleGro, Better World.

Lettuce seems to do better on MiracleGro. This may be due to the higher nitrogen content in MiracleGro, but I’m no scientist. 

Tomorrow I will perform the most important test of all: the Taste Test! 

Stay tuned. 

June 12th: measurements and some more colour.

This is the beginning of Week 3 in my little experiment.  And the numbers are showing  more height gains to the Miracle Gro. But in terms of actual edible output, Better World is ahead (check out the strawberries. And the marigolds, if you care to eat them.).

                                  MiracleGro      gain                    Better World        gain 

• Raspberry                  21.5 in            +2.0                  17.0 in                      +1.0

• Basil                             15.0                 +2.5                  13.0                        +1.0

• Tomato                         14.5                  +4.5                 14.0                       +2.5

• Marigold                      2 blooms                                8 blooms

 The chart above the picture refers to the contents of these baskets.

 Water only. The jalapeno peppers seem happiest with water (the tall things to left of the lettuce). Dumb peppers; everyone knows you need beer with peppers to cut the heat, not water! 

Miracle-Gro. Beans in the little pot seem happiest here. 

 Better World Organic Plant Food. Everything looks happy here, especially the strawberries.  

See close ups below. 

Water only. Still nuthin'!

 Miracle-Gro. Only one sadly deformed ripe berry.

Better World Plant Food.  Wow! 

Here’s two other images. Plants I’m following, just for myself. Fed Better World: 

I’d say it’s time to get the whipped cream out for these babies! 

June 8th: Some additional photos

Two weeks into the test. Things are getting crowded!

What to do? 

Part of me wants to transplant into larger boxes. Part of me wants to really do a stress test and see what I can grow in a confined space. Must consult The Lazy Gardener’s credo for advice. 

Another fig in the Better World box!  (Tip your head to the left. You can see the fig starting in the upper right)

Check out these berries:

Water only.

Miracle-Gro.

Strawberries on Better World. First signs of colour! 

Test from seeds:

Radishes (left) beans (right). 

Top to bottom: 

water only

Miracle-Gro

Better World Plant Food

Look at this batch! 

Beans on Better World. These were planted at the same time as the seeds in the small pots. 

But I mixed some Better World directly into the soil before planting. 

Here’s the same pot just yesterday: