when i came home i got a surprise e-mail from my old coworker brice. he asked if i was running along the charles river earlier, as he was running himself. i vaguely remember passing someone with a moustache. turns out, brice said he's really into running these days, having competed in some ultra marathons. i haven't seen brice in a long time, nearly 13 years exactly to this day, when we had lunch in union square. he said he works at harvard doing IT and lives in watertown.
for lunch i made an omelette, after having been reminded by a photo that i can make a decent omelette. it's more about using up leftovers, especially garden vegetables. besides the eggs and some leftover frozen cubed ham, i also chopped up a garden tomato and a garden red serrano, sprinkled with some shredded parmesan cheese and sliced olives.
after lunch i rode to market basket to get a few things (eggs, butter, brie cheese). i then went to get some gas before stopping by the cafe to drop off some leftover sichuan paocai. i stuck around for a little bit to help when an order came in.
from there i went to the watertown home depot to pick up some vinyl tubing. i only needed a foot, but since they don't sell it cut to length, i had no choice but to buy the smallest length, which is 10ft ($6.83). they were moving some materials in the aisle so i had to wait for them to finish. in the meantime, i checked out their houseplants. i really want to get an african violet but i think i can get them cheaper at trader joe's.
since i was in the neighborhood, i decided to stop by my parents' place to check out the backyard and the basement grow room. we moved in all the thanksgiving/christmas cactuses and osmanthus so they wouldn't drown in the rain, so i moved them all back out again. it's hard to appreciate how fragrant osmanthus are when they're outside, but when they're indoors, just a few tiny white flowers can really perfume a room. i checked the water level in some buckets (which acts as a makeshift rain gauge), about 2 inches worth of rain fell. currently the most impression thing in the backyard is the bitter melon trellis though, and the combination of fertilizer and rain has really given them a big boost.
i checked out the hydroponic mustard plants in the basement. i removed the paper wrappers to examine the roots. one of the mustards in the mason jar seems particularly small and the "baby leaves" have all shriveled up as well. it only had one thin root descending to the nutrient solution, i have a feeling that one is going to die. the other mason jar mustard is doing much better, many (a dozen or more) water roots. the big jar mustard is doing the best, not as many roots, but the roots it does have are long and branching. over the weekend i might top off the jars with more nutrients, it's simply too warm underneath the led grow light and the solution is evaporating very fast.
i returned home by 3:30pm. this morning there were reports about queen elizabeth being under medical observation and all her immediate family were rushing to be by her side. i didn't think much of it, but when i turned on news after getting back home, i found out she had already died hours ago, age 96. she's old enough that for most people, she's the only british monarch they know, and it's been 70 years since the last coronation ceremony. prince charles is now king charles, which has an strange ring to it, so used are we to the name "prince charles". i had no opinion about queen elizabeth, she seemed like a nice old lady, always seemed to do the right thing, which for the most part, was just to stay in the background and not say anything.
my barbed elbow fittings arrived today (the one where i only needed one but had to buy 24 instead). it fits much better into the 1/2 inch tubing that the blue twist elbow i got over the weekend (which i'm going to return). with that i have all the pieces i need to build my aeroponics setup. i made a material list with cost of all the things i've bought over the past month:
| item | cost |
|---|---|
| standard hydroponics pH up/down kit (10 oz. w/pipettes) | $15.99 |
| general hydroponics maxigro 2.2 lbs. | $18.69 |
| distilled water 1 gallon | $0.99 |
| 2L plastic pitcher | $1.25 |
| koopi 76mm/3 inch BI-metal hole saw | $9.48 |
| DOMINOX 1-1/4" ratchet pipe cutter | $7.99 |
| MAXUS precision pocket sale 200g x 0.01g | $8.49 |
| LAWNFUL water pH and TDS meters | $14.99 |
| techbee repeat cycle timer (120V 15A) | $12.95 |
| VIVOSUN 400GPH submersible pump (1500L/H 15W) | $15.99 |
| 5lbs. LECA (stock your home brand) | $19.99 |
| 3 inch net cups 25 pcs | $6.75 |
| BIOMAND 1.5" rockwool starter plugs (98 pcs) | $16.49 |
| acuteye mixed micro sprayers 180 pcs | $9.54 |
| greenmade storage tote 27 gal. | $9 |
| 1/2 inch PVC pipe 10ft | $5.82 |
| 1/2 inch PVC tee (79¢/piece) x7 | $5.53 |
| 1/2 inch PVC elbow (71¢/piece) x4 | $2.84 |
| 1/2 inch neoprene grommet | $2.75 |
| 1/2 inch (1.3cm) black irrigation elbow 24 pcs | $4.59 |
| 1/2 inch ID 5/8 inch OD vinyl tubing, 10ft | $6.83 |
| chinese mustard seeds (Braccisa juncea) 1000 seeds | $3.99 |
| chinese mustard seeds (Brassica juncea) packet | $1.99 |
this doesn't take into account things i already have, like a 3/4 inch spade drill for making the grommet hole, or led grow lights. i did the math, i spent a total of $202.92. i didn't realize it was that much, i think maybe $100, $150 at most. i spent $200 to grow some mustard greens that i can just buy from any asian market for like $3/lbs. i better be growing like a hundred pounds of mustard greens to make this all worthwhile.
i do have enough surplus equipment to make more aeroponic containers if i wanted to, just need to another tote box, some more PVC pipe and fittings, a grommet, and a 400GPH pump. it'd cost me an additional $42 to make a second box.
i can build my aeroponic container this weekend. a part of me thinks that i should wait until i know the results of my jar hydroponics experiments; if i can't even keep those 3 mustard plants alive, i shouldn't be getting into aeroponics just yet, which is more advanced.
for dinner i baked a frozen pizza in the oven. newman's pizza are thin-crust, and just 3 slices wasn't enough, so i ended up eating the whole thing. i ate while watching the start of the NFL season, a thursday night NBC-broadcast game between the buffalo bills and the defending-champions los angeles rams. i really like the bills (except when they play the patriots twice a season), so i was rooting for them, since they also represented the AFC east. the bills seemed more dominant, but couldn't capitalize in the first half, with the rams tying the score at 10-10. but the wheels came off for los angeles in the second half after some costly interceptions that later resulted in scores. the final was 31-10.
i had to run my air purifier afterwards as there was a burnt smell from my oven.