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.
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