One day I was sitting in my apartment wishing I had a vegetable garden, wondering to myself... why hasn't anyone created a self-contained unit that allows me to grow some of my own food indoors? Well my dream hasn't quite been realized, but we as a society are a little bit closer thanks to the AeroGarden a counter top, indoor garden.After buying the AeroGarden all I had to do was install three pre-assembled seed pods, add water and nutrient tablets, then turn the thing on. Within a few days I had sprouting tomato plants and now after a month or so I have flowers (which means tomatoes are coming). Yes real veggies are being grown right on my kitchen counter top. No daily watering, no turning lights on and off, it's about as close to a maintenance free garden as you can get.
Downsides? Cost. I'm sorry but if you consider the cost of the unit, additional seed pods and grow light bulbs, it'll be a few hundred years before you break even. Actually you'll never break even, so give up if you're trying to save money.
Problems? Easy setup, but one seed pod didn't sprout. They have a guarantee, but I'm too lazy to worry about it. Two tomato plants is fine and I stuck a mint seed in the defective pod and now I have a little mint plant too. Also when I first planted my garden I had trouble setting the grow lights to go on and off at the right time. A quick call to their customer service hotline took care of it, they provided fantastic service, no waiting and the guy was very friendly and helpful.
So if you've got an organic junkie in the family, or know a New Yorker who hasn't seen green in a few years... the AeroGarden is worth a look.
