Upcoming Tower Garden and Juice Plus Events:

With the continued interest in the Fun With Tower Garden blog (354 views), I wanted to take this opportunity to invite my readers to the upcoming events so you can see a Tower Garden in action and learn more about it.  Juice Plus sells the Tower Garden through its distributor network.  Learn more at any of these Fun and Free events in Austin, Round Rock and Cedar Park:

Saturday June 22 (10am to 6pm) at Nature's Treasures in Austin:

Summer Solstice Open House and BIG SALE

A Summer Solstice Meet and Greet Presented by: Austin All Natural, Nature's Treasures, and Austin Holistic Chamber of Commerce .

Come and enjoy a full day of celebration.  Enjoy free talks, demonstrations and clearings from some of Austin's top Holistic Practitioners.  See the Morning Mist Retreats' Tower Garden and sign up for the Conscious Living Retreat Series.  Tower Garden is a sponsor of the Morning Mist Retreats Meditation Garden pictured above.  

Monday June 24 (6:45pm) at 5013 Sendero Springs, Round Rock, TX 78681:


Tower Garden Free Presentation 

 Join us as School Nurse Gina Carmichael teaches you the difference that whole food nutrition can make for your health and how having a Tower Garden leads to healthy eating for you and your family.  Contact Karen Beard at karenlynnk2000@yahoo.com (512) 255-0075 to RSVP or for more information.  

Tuesday June 25 (5:30 - 7 pm) at Blue Corn Harvest, 700 E. Whitestone Blvd (FM 1431), Cedar Park, TX 78613.  

Healthy Happy Hour

Join us for a fun time as Gina Carmichael, RN leads you in learning about healthier living through simple choices.  Contact Karen Beard at karenlynnk2000@yahoo.com (512) 255-0075 to RSVP or for more information. 

 

Thursday June 27 (6:45 - 8:30 pm) at Old Quarry Library, 7051 Village Center Drive, ), Austin, TX 78731

 

Healthy Happy Kids and Tower Garden

Join us as School Nurse Gina Carmichael teaches you the difference that whole food nutrition can make for your family's health. Contact Karen Beard at karenlynnk2000@yahoo.com (512) 255-0075 to RSVP or for more information.

Sunday June 30 (10:30am to 3:30pm) at Nature's Treasures in Austin:
This one is a paid class - allowing you to enjoy the vegetables from the Tower Garden:

"Simple Food Choices for Vibrant Living"
You will be introduced to food choices for healthy living that do not dictate a regimen of ‘can’t haves.’ Learn to incorporate delicious foods that make a healthy plate. Full participation in food prep is included as a part of the class.  Enjoy the Tower Garden food.    INCLUDES LUNCH 


CLICK HERE to Register and see the entire Conscious Living Series




You can get direct emails of each new blog entry as the garden takes shape by entering your email address at Follow by Email on the right.
For more information on the Tower Garden and to get your own go to:

www.funwith.towergarden.com

 

Week 4 of Fun With Tower Garden - Products, Pollination, Production, and Presentation
 
The Tower Garden continues to delight and teach me.  I have learned about new products for the garden, the importance of pollination, what to do with all the produce, and how to make money doing this as a business.  To learn more about all this and see the garden up close and personal - you are invited to my home in Round Rock, Texas for a free presentation on Monday June 24.  Email me for details at funwith.towergarden@gmail.com .

It's amazing how much growth is possible in a month, and as my other plants in the soil are already suffering from the Texas heat and sun, the Tower Garden continues to proliferate, grow and produce.  It is requiring a lot of water since mine are in full sun all day - about 10 gallons every 2 days but it's worth it for the abundant growth and production of fruits and vegetables.

PRODUCTS: I ran out of Tower Tonic (the fertilizer that came with the garden) so I went to Texas Hydroponics & Organics to see what they had and if they might want to become a distributor.  They had experience using a Tower Garden for aquaponics - with fish in the tank.  So there's three ways to use the Tower Garden - regular, organic and aquaponics!  I chose a mid-price range fertilizer for flowering and fruiting and decided to try an organic bug spray (all plant oils) to minimize the pests.   

POLLINATION: One of my biggest frustrations has been dying produce - shriveled up watermelons and zucchini.  And I found out why.  Although the bees have come to my honeysuckle, they have yet to discover the Tower Garden.  When the flowers on top of the baby produce are not pollinated, the produce will not continue to grow.  Upon inspecting the flowers, I could see the difference, especially in the large zucchini flowers.  Some have small fruit under the flower (female flowers near the bottom of the plant) and some don't (male flowers above the females on long stems).  The center of the male flower has one anther full of pollen and the female flower has several stigma that receive the pollen. 

To reproduce the action of the bees, I decided to use q-tips to collect the pollen and move it from the male to the female flowers. This is especially easy with zucchini.  And the difference is amazing.  The pollinated female flowers fruit started to grow fast and within 5 days was 11 inches and ready to harvest while the unpollinated zucchini just shriveled up.  Since the zucchini flowers open simultaneously but only for one day in the morning - I am now on the watch for pollinating opportunities.

The watermelon flowers are not as obvious but there is a slight difference and they either have a fruit under them (females) or they don't (males).  As you can see, this watermelon was pollinated and is growing fast with these pictures taken two days apart.

PRODUCTION:  With such a large zucchini to eat and more to come, I went on line and found two delicious recipes to go with my paleo eating plan.  Broiled zucchini and zucchini pasta - which is perfect with the pesto I already made using the wonderful Tower Garden basil, see week 3 pictures. Click on the links to find these tasty recipes taste-tested by me - Yummy!. 

The other benefit of the Tower Garden has been the production of an income source.  With my Tower Garden purchase and the other Juice Plus products I have sold in two weeks as a distributor my first retail profit check was $73.  My next monthly check will include two promotion bonuses and commissions and will be much larger.  Stay tuned into the blog or sign up to get the blog emailed to you to find out how much more.  

PRESENTATION: Tower Garden Free Presentation.  Join us as School Nurse Gina Carmichael teaches you the difference that whole food nutrition can make for your health and how having a Tower Garden leads to healthy eating for you and your family.  June 24 at Karen's 5013 Sendero Springs Drive, Round Rock, TX  78681  6:45 pm.  Contact Karen Beard at karenlynnk2000@yahoo.com (512) 255-0075 to RSVP or for more information. 

Follow the Fun With Tower Garden Blog and watch it grow!
www.funwithtowergarden.blogspot.com
You can get direct emails of each new blog entry as the garden takes shape by entering your email address at Follow by Email on the right.
For more information on the Tower Garden and to get your own go to:

www.funwith.towergarden.com

Week 3 of Fun With Tower Garden - Pruning, Pests and Produce
 
This has been a very interesting week with the Tower Garden.  Much new growth, new pests and new produce starting to grow. Here's what it looks like now, the growth has been phenomenal:

PRUNING:  My main pruning tasks has been trimming the roots so they don't clog the pump. With the large zucchini, cucumber and watermelon leave at the bottom, the root growth has been tremendous.  After a weekend away, I finally checked the water level after 5 days and it was down by half, the roots had taken over.  The water had also raised above the recommended 85 degrees.  First I trimmed all the roots to near the top of the water level.  Second I added 10 gallons of dechlorinated water with the Tower Tonic fertilizer in it.  Third I checked the pH, it was ok at 6 (ok range is 5.5-6.5).  Fourth I rechecked the temperature and it was still high. 

Fifth, I took the lid off over night so the water would evaporate and pull down the temperature from the rest of the water.  It worked and dropped about 7-8 degrees overnight.  The second time I did it, it was a cool night so the temperature dropped a lot more to 70 degrees.

PESTS:  The plants have all looked healthy but I noticed droppings on the shelf and cage, a telltale sign of tomato caterpillars. Another sign is leaves with holes or completely chewed away.  These pests grow almost as fast as the plants and are really nasty when they are big.  Better to catch and dispose of them while small.  Here's four I removed this morning.  By wiping off the tower shelf everyday, it's easier to see new drippings and find and remove the culprits.

PRODUCE:  All but my green bean and strawberry (a 2 year plant) have been producing flowers and starting to grow new crops.  True to the claims of the manufacturer, the basil is obviously healthier and larger in the tower garden than in the ground.  I transplanted a baby volunteer from the ground into the tower 3 weeks ago.  The ground plants are spindly and keep putting out flowers that have to be removed.  The Tower Garden basil is happy just putting out very large and healthy leaves.  

New baby peppers are showing up and one is getting larger.

New tomatoes are emerging despite the heat (although we did have a couple of nights dip into the 60s).  I've been able to pick and eat 4 healthy cherry tomatoes from one plant and others are quite full.
 

I was surprised to see how the cucumbers started to form full of little spikes and looking like stems with a flower on the end. The cucumber flowers are much smaller than the zucchini flowers below. 
 

The zucchini has had the most growth with the biggest leaves and flowers about 5 inches across.  I was surprised to see the baby zucchini appear, almost overnight with a flower growing on top of it.  There are also other flowers above the produce that have stems and no produce on it. 

I am harvesting peppermint and spearmint daily to add to my hot and iced tea.  The smell is so refreshing and delightful.  Parsley and chives have also been harvested as needed.  Can't wait to make some pesto from that wonderful basil !!!

  
Last chance to Register for the Free Tower Garden Presentation:

Tower Garden Free Presentation.  Learn how to grow fruits and vegetables in a small space with no dirt – it’s fun and easy!  June 11 at Behren’s Ranch Amenity Center, 2503 Arbor Drive, Round Rock, TX 78681.   6:45 pm.  Contact Karen Beard at karenlynnk2000@yahoo.com (512) 255-0075 to RSVP or for more information. 




Follow the Fun With Tower Garden Blog and watch it grow!
www.funwithtowergarden.blogspot.com
You can get direct emails of each new blog entry as the garden takes shape by entering your email address at Follow by Email on the right.
For more information on the Tower Garden and to get your own go to:

www.funwith.towergarden.com

Week 2 of Fun With Tower Garden and Organic Gardening

Thank you to everyone who has checked in with the Fun With Tower Garden blog to watch the fruits and vegetables grow.  It's totally amazing to me how fast it's growing.  I'm already using limited amounts of the herbs - spearmint, peppermint, basil, parsley, even chives and the Malabar spinach which is doing very well despite our 90+ daytime temperatures here in Central Texas. The bottom plants are getting huge (cucumber, zucchini, and watermelon) and there are now 3 baby watermelons.  

 So here is the Tower Garden after two weeks of growth:

After asking many questions about organic gardening, I finally got some thorough answers while visiting Brite Ideas, a south Austin store specializing in hydro and aquaponics.  Since the Tower Garden is an aeroponic system and a form of hydroponics, the staff was very helpful and interested in the Tower Garden.  According to the Brite Ideas expert staff, there are three elements to organic gardening:  organic seeds, organic fertilizer (and they sell several brands), and organic insect spray.  Although my Tower Garden is not organic at the present time, I will probably switch to organic growing for the fall crops, now that I know how to do it and where to get the supplies.

One of my gardening relatives told me about a spray for tomatoes that helps them to pollinate.  I have not found a brand name yet to look for, but if you know of one, let me know.  We had one cool night in the 60s recently that I think helped the plants put out some new flowers.  Those cool nights will be rare now that we are in June.  

I am so excited to welcome Linda Beard to the Fun With Tower Garden blog and to share her experiences with her own tower gardening experience.  Linda is my first customer and filled her new garden with larger plants since that is what was available at the gardening center.  Many of her plants already have vegetables growing on them - tomatoes and peppers.  She also bought the extension kit with her, so her tower is two sections taller than mine.  

Linda just bought a second Tower Garden without the extension that she plans to use to grow green beans. Since she has much experience with a ground vegetable garden, I'm looking forward to learning from her gardening experience and how it relates to Tower Gardening.

I'm still in the process of learning how to trim the plants.  So far I've trimmed leaves off the spinach and the mints where new ones are already starting to grow as replacements.  The spinach passed the top of the cage, so I trimmed the end to see how the rest will do.  I will continue to read the individual guides to see what else I need to do as the growing continues. 

To see the Tower Garden in action come the the Round Rock, TX free presentation on June 11 as my guest.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/101778320029503/  for details.

Follow this blog by email and watch the Garden grow - sign up on the right.

For more information on the Tower Garden and to get your own go to:
 
www.funwith.towergarden.com

blessings on your own Tower Garden experience, 

Karen Beard, Direct Distributor
Juice Plus+® Tower Garden ™   
(512) 255-0075
funwith.towergarden@gmail.com