What makes a salad so spectacular? Unexpectedly good veggies, of course! And what makes a veggie unexpectedly good? Why, being super-fresh! And being fresh means growing yourself, right in your very own indoor plant growing system. Not only is it convenient, but it’s cheap, fast, and green — much greener than running to the grocery store every season.
Soil based planting is becoming a thing of the past and home-gardeners are veering towards hydroponic and aeroponic gardening systems like those supplied by Gardyn, one of top rated indoor gardening system suppliers.
While they sound similar because of a shared suffix – ‘-ponics’, referring to a plant-growing method – aeroponics and hydroponics are not the same. Rather, they work differently.
Hydroponic systems are horizontal, with the roots of the plants typically suspended in water. Aeroponic systems are typically vertical in configuration, with the roots suspended and dripped at from timed emitters in a column of water and nutrients.
Each has its own benefits and it really is down to personal preference which one you choose. They can both grow a wide range of fruits and vegetables including the following must have salad ingredients.
Lettuce
Lettuce is the crux of the salad for many people out there, but it’s also mind-blowingly simple to grow, in both the garden bed and in a container of your choice — in fact, it’s a great kid’s first growing project. Just play around with the types; some seed packets come to you pre-mixed.
Spinach
With its dark green leaves, and its strong, satisfying bite, spinach is a fine salad ingredient. With a heavy dose of nutrition, to boot. No matter whether you prefer salads, smoothies, or a nutritious spring roll, you need to get planting – spinach is an easy-to-grow cool-weather crop.
Radishes
Salads use up a lot of radishes, and nothing gives them so much peppery bite as radishes right out of your very own indoor garden. Harvest them before they become unpleasantly spongy (as a rule of thumb, about the time they swell to the size of large grapes), or you’ll risk them becoming indelibly hidden by tough roots.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes – with their colour, their taste, their texture – are the accent to the salad of your life, and the no-green-thumb’s perennial choice. Buy whatever variety you like at your farmers’ market or your local nursery (organic, if you can manage it.
Green Beans
They’re the gardener’s best friend and super easy to grow. They grow fast and strong and are the perfect accompaniment to a salad. Served cold, ‘lightly steamed’ and marinated in French dressing. Perfect! Because beans freeze extremely well, blanch for a minute or so before storing them airtight, you can keep them for your salad all year long.
Conclusion
It’s not just salad vegetables that you can grow in indoor gardening systems, there are a plethora of other fruit and vegetables that can be grown all year round. Peppers, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Squash, spring onions, and even strawberries – you name it you can grow it!
Hydroponic and aeroponic growing systems are perfect if you are tight on space and some systems, particularly the vertical tower systems, take up as little as 2 square feet, and can produce huge crops of your favorite fruit and vegetables.
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