Aerogarden add on for Salad Lovers

What a great idea! And those look so nummy.

I, too, am a lover of greens. I have two of those slim, in-line Harvests growing nothing but lettuce varieties. I am trying to find the equilibrium point where I produce enough greens to meet my daily consumption requirements. I'm hoping the magin number is two, but I'll bet it will turn out to be at least three.

I am interested in your hedge-trimming harvest technique. Is it just kind of like a haircut -- take about a third off all the way around?

In my first plantings, I trimmed outer leaves to harvest, but I ended up with these little lettuce trees that looked like a primordial forest. 

Does the hedge-trimming approach give better or longer yield?

LoveSalads -- Thanks for all the info. It sounds like you are doing exactly what I want to end up doing, so I will be putting you on 'Follow'.

I could live on tossed salad and scrambled eggs, Caesar salads (no or minimal carbs in Caesar dressing), blue cheese salad with steak (no carbs in blue cheese dressing, either), and my guilty pleasure -- salad topped with crumbled blue cheese and Catalina dressing (does have some carbs, but like I said -- guilty pleasure.)

So in my quest to get these Aerogardens to have some impact on the grocery bill, I will be trying to determine optimum gardens to ensure constant harvest.

I started with one Harvest, but it was soon obvious I would need at least 2, so I got another Harvest. Then Slims went on sale, so I bought two of those and switched the lettuce production to them. They do seem to provide better light because of the inline arrangement.

I have thus far used AG seed pods because as a new AG guy, I went on a pod buying binge. The Salad Green seed pod kit, the Salad Bar seed pod kit, custom boxes of AG romaine pods and AG Parris Island cos, plus the Harvest Slims came with Heirloom Salad kits. Some of these did well and some not so well. Some outright sucked (Talkin' about you, Heirloom Salad kit.)

All were expensive.

So I have acquired some nice lettuce seeds and will be going the 'roll your own' route, although I will still use out the AG pods little by little.

Goal is to be able to get a continuous harvest of lettuce to produce 2 salads per 1 person per 1 day. I have 2 Harvests doing lettuce now. I will add others if I have to. 

What is the Salads per person per day output of 3 Bounty gardens and a Harvest?

I am also trying to derive the optimum arrangement of chives and scallions, because I like a little greenery in my scrambled eggs. Chives are more sophisticated, but scallions produce better. (Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions.)

Once I get the lettuce and the chives/scallions sorted, I'll deal with tomatoes and peppers. I also caught Seed Pod Acquisition syndrome for tomato and pepper pods. I would like some tomatoes for those salads. 

Thanks again for the excellent suggestions.

And to keep this on topic -- I am now away from my gardens for a couple of weeks, but when I return, I will be looking into lazy Susans. (And I expect to return to some full gardens.)

For me, the ROI on growing AG lettuce is the absolute fresh taste. I never buy retail lettuce now. I also don't waste head lettuce like I used to.

Although I am trying to find ways to get the unit cost down and maximize the impact on the grocery bill, I think my best ROI will eventually be that I am eating better.

If I have a supply of fresh lettuce and chives and scallions and basil and tomatoes at hand, I am less likely to order a pizza or run to McDonald's. 

I'll make tossed salad and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I'll have a big salad for dinner. 

They are nutritionally better, plus they do not gut-bomb me as bad as fast food. (But I do still like a Runza every now and then, and an In-and-Out when I'm where I can get them.)

And that impact is already happening. I'm eating better, and I do not have half bags of lettuce turning to goo in the refrigerator because the lettuce is growing right in from of my face in the living room, crying out 'No, no, no. Eat me" when I'm bring up Doordash on the computer.

I just need to maximize production of lettuce and chives and scallions. (Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions.)

As for the initial price of the gardens -- I kind of look at those like the railroads saw laying track in the 19th century. Necessary and expensive, and they will take a long time to recoup their value. But hopefully, these will help me live longer to see that day.

I put plastic lunch trays under my Bounties. They're quite cheap on Amazon.

And those of you who live in snowy climes should remember to order a couple extra cafeteria trays for personal use.

They make excellent toboggans. Totally un-steerable. 

Lunch trays sound like a great idea, especially if you need to protect the surface under the garden. My tables are basic resin-top folding tables, they've not had protection previously, and don't really need it. But I'll remember this in case I need to put a garden on a different surface.

As for growing enough veggies, I think the Aerogardens can make a significant contribution, at least with greens, like lettuce, chard, Tatsoi, etc... My first try at Italian dandelions has been less than 100% success, but I can see from the one happy plant that they do grow quickly and well, and I would be flush with dandelion greens if I had six plants at the same stage!

The five Tatsoi plants are super producers, as long as you "Feed me, Seymour!" I'm not sure I'd do two gardens of Tatsoi at once again, LOL!

There's just me and hubby, and hubby hardly ever bothers to "fix" veggies, preferring to grab microwaveables. So I can definitely make a dent in what I need in the way of greens with the Aerogardens. I'm totally about the food aspect. I also love that I can do different varieties of greens. You'd never find Tatsoi at my grocery store! 

I've always liked growing a bit of food, so it's a hobby too, but I definitely tend to steer away from plants that aren't especially productive. If I had space, I'd probably consider one flower Aerogarden though, as I do like flowers! Which reminds me ... need to shake my tomato!

The bit of yellow I saw on the tomato last night is a full-fledged BLOOM today! With another soon to follow! I shook the tomato, LOL!