Too Cool For School

Here is a great idea for an indoor, hydroponic herb garden. Spotted this on Gizmodo.com Great for those of us with a "brown thumb." And it doubles as a prep island. Cool. But with a $2200 price tag, too steep for my tastes. And it looks like it would supply far more herbs (well, cooking herbs anyway) than I could reasonably use.

A few years ago I got an "Aero Garden" for Christmas. This comes with a price tag around $200. I saw it in a SkyMall catalog (I know, I know...) and added it to my wish list on a whim. These are a countertop version of a hydroponic herb garden. I have the 7 pod. Of course, right now I'm growing herbs outdoors. But one of these days I'll get this back into production. It actually works just like the box says it does. Not great for when you need a lot of one herb (like parsley for tabbouleh) but works a treat when you just need a couple tables spoons worth. I usually have chives, thyme, rosemary, basil (x2), lemon basil, and cilantro in mine.