Tower Garden Harvest + A Sweet Summer Peach Salad

I'm here to bring you a little bit of

SUNSHINE

Happy summer, friends! This week I'm telling you all about my Tower Garden! It's my second year with it & this year has been more successful than the last. It took a little trial and error with store bought seedlings vs starting my own plants from seeds, but I can say this growing season has been bountiful!

This post is not sponsored by Tower Garden.

I bought my first Tower Garden in May of 2020 (my housewarming gift to myself). I saw it for the first time on social media in 2019 & new I had to have one for myself.

For those of you that don't know, the Tower Garden created by the Juice Plus+ Company, in an aeroponic garden that can be used to grow your own produce indoors or outdoors, all year round. My biggest reason for purchasing a Tower Garden was that I wanted to extend my growing season for the garden I was planning out when I bought my home (plus, I have a phobia of any type of reptile, no matter the size). I live in Tennessee & we have very hot, humid summers. We've got some scorching hot summers that some veggies do not thrive in & in the winter it's way too chilly to grow a thing.

I still grow some foods outdoors since you can't grow every type of produce from the TG.

Juice Plus+ sells two types of growing systems: the Tower Garden Home for indoor use only & the Tower Garden Flex, which can be used both indoors & out.

I love my Tower Garden because I can grow a huge variety of foods without soil & pesky creatures that might sneak up on me. The original packaging allows for you to grow 20 plants within a 3 ft x 3 ft space. Talk about a small footprint! The plants grow in a soil-less medium called rockwool, which is made from the fine fibers of molten rock. A water reservoir holds 20 gallons of water that is mixed with mineral nutrients to feed your plants. The water is pumped up through the tower & slowly trickles down within the growing system to feed the plants for about 15 minute increments, but also allows for optimal oxygen exchange. You can purchase seedlings from retailers or start your own plants from seed (I prefer the latter). You can grow a huge variety of fruits & vegetables such as herbs, leafy greens, broccoli, peppers, & tomatoes, to watermelon & strawberries! The quality of the produce is superb! They are much tastier, vibrant, & obviously more fresh than store bought produce. The water is recycled & you add more water/nutrients every few weeks. Twice a year I will break down the entire garden for a good cleaning & to replace the water in the reservoir.

See the difference between TG grown vs store bought bok choy/pak choi below, store bought is on the left, TG grown is on the right.

The photo to the left shows produce that I grew in about 1 month from seeds!

Pictured here from left-to-right, top-to-bottom are: parsley, basil, dill, pak choi, bibb lettuce, & romaine lettuce.

I'm also currently growing self-pollinating cucumbers, sweet peppers, bell peppers, kale, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, green beans, oregano, scallions, arugula, + more in my Tower Garden.
I have a second TG that I would like to dedicate to strawberries, but I'm still doing more research on if I should start from seed, from bare roots, or seedlings (I've only tried seedlings & bare root strawberries).

I'll be sure to share more of my harvests! I often post about my TG on my Instagram, so come follow along!

Cooking with produce from my Tower Garden is so rewarding & I have another recipe for you below! Here is a recipe I posted a few weeks ago featuring some TG veggies. I hope you Enjoy!

Summer Peach Salad

featuring fresh peaches from The Peach Truck

makes 4 servings

To make the peach vinaigrette, you'll need:

4 to 5 basil leaves
2 Peach Truck Peaches
1-2 cloves garlic (use 1 for just a subtle hint of garlic)
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar (you can substitute with white wine vinegar, just add 1/2 tbsp of honey)

Place the above ingredients in a blender, or wide mouth jar/cup if using an immersion blender. Mix until smooth!

To make the salad, you'll need:

3 1/2 - 4 cups lettuce (I used bibb lettuce & baby romaine from my Tower garden), cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch strips
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 peach, cut into slices

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl, toss with desired amount of peach vinaigrette & serve with chicken (I used homemade chicken salad).

If you're in Nashville, check out the Peach Truck! They're truly my favorite!

Stay Nashful!