Our biggest lettuce plants are now 9" in diameter. You can't keep them down! As you can see, though, we've added some plastic mulching around them. You can no longer see the media, but trust me, it's there. This is to help prevent any algae growth down the road. We want to make sure all nutrients and oxygen are going straight to our green leaf lettuce!

We're also excited that the much younger seeds in our raft system are taking root (literally). Their roots are now through the rock-wool into the nutrient-rich water. Hopefully they start shooting up soon! The bigger sprouts are our lettuce and the smaller ones are our rosemary - apparently it's a slow-grower in comparison. We can't wait until we can sample some of our product!

While we started our lettuce off-site and then transplanted it (while quite young) to the media bed, here on the left you can see the first sprouts of seeds started right in the raft system. This is a mix of basil and lettuce. The young seedlings have popped up quickly. We now have the grow lights turned on so that they can continue to grow. Which will grow faster? Green leaf lettuce or basil?

Our lettuce is quite happy that there are fish in the tank. They have perked up considerably since they have had a steady source of fertilizer. Thanks for providing nutrients, fish! On the left you can see the lettuce growing in our media bed - we'll be adding some rosemary here as well soon. Below the first sprouts of basil and lettuce are just poking through in our raft system - these were only planted last week.

Right now we only have one media bed and one raft system since the fish are so small (just 1") but as they grow, and produce more waste, we'll be adding a second media bed and a second raft system. Look for those additions in another 4-6 weeks!

We are absolutely thrilled that our first system is now up and running. The fingerlings (baby tilapia) went into the system yesterday and are happily swimming around in their new home. So welcome Sushi, Victor, Nemo, and more. We have thirty fish to name, so send in your best suggestions!

The lettuce in our media bed is starting to perk up, and now that we have fish in the system providing fertilizer and nutrients they should grow much more quickly. Meanwhile, the first small sprouts from our lettuce and basil in the raft system are starting to peek through. They started as seeds embedded in rock wool.

It's been quite an exciting weekend so check out the gallery of pictures below! We'll also be keeping a close eye on the system as the baby fish (they're just 1" long now!) begin to grow and the plants quickly move up to harvest size. Keep checking back for more updates!