TALES FROM THE GARDEN - Seeds, Broccoli and The Kratky Method

So now that we have moved into a winter house (yes this time we have an actual house we're living in!), and have access to the basement, I thought we'd try growing some food. Because even in the cold months we need to take action if we want to reach our goal for food sovereignty. I've heard a lot about hydroponics over the years but lately, it seems a lot of people from different circles have been talking about the kratky method.

The Kratky method is a passive hydroponic technique for growing plants suspended above a reservoir of nutrient-rich water. Because it is a non-circulating technique, no additional inputs of water or nutrients are needed after the original application, and no electricity, pumps, or water and oxygen circulation systems are required.[1] The Kratky method has applications both for commercial food production and as a small-scale and low-maintenance technique for home growers. (from the wiki link above)

So far all I have done is get the seeds started in rockwool. I used what I could find (a glass dish) to soak the growing medium, put seeds in and covered the whole thing with a towel... It's sitting on top of our fridge for warmth right now, but I want to get a different tray, something like a proper seedling tray. I think the pyrex dish would work fine for what we're doing but we need it for cooking yummy things!

Passive Hydroponics

Well, we'll see how it goes in a few days...!

Other than that we harvested our last brussels sprouts, little bits of broccoli, and saved a handful of broccoli seeds this week... I think that will be it this year for this garden!

And as for the seeds, I found an awesome new way to package them from Skillcult:

That wraps things up for this week's Tales From The Garden, I hope you found some insiration, and see you next week!