December, 2019 - David Mathre Photography

Wednesday (25-December-2019) — Florida

Gone to See Florida — 2019 Road Trip.

Christmas Day walkabout in an Urban Garden and Farm. I went out three times during the day with three different camera & lens combinations. Fuji X-H1 camera with a 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x teleconverter, Fuji X-T3 camera with a 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens, and Nikon 1 V3 camera with a 70-300 mm VR lens. The Hens were still feasting on the broccoli leaves I brought them. Cardinal, Blue Jay, and Red-headed Woodpecker at the bird feeder. A squirrel in the Carambola and Mango tree. Many flowers (Flame Lily, Canna Lily, Chinese Lantern, Rossle (Hybiscus), Purple Bengal Clockvine). Also Bananas and Figs.

Hen eating broccoli leaves. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens + 1.4 x teleconverter (DAVID J MATHRE)

Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.

Hen. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens + 1.4 x teleconverter (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (52.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (31.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Overall a net deficit of 20.4 kWh. Most of the hydroponic gardens were off or only on for fewer hours. Also, the thermostat for the Geothermal heater and hybrid heat pump hot water heater were set for vacation mode.

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Tuesday (24-December-2019) — Florida

Gone to See Florida — 2019 Road Trip.

I arrived in St. Petersburg, Florida before lunchtime. The Chickens in the backyard urban garden loved the Broccoli leaves I brought from my indoor hydroponic AeroGarden Farm. My father pointed out that a bunch of Bananas were resting on top of a bee hive. My mother had some blooming orchids hanging from the Mango trees. She also had strawberry plants and berries in a Grow Tower that had been moved to the upper part of the driveway.

Hens feasting on Broccoli leaves from my indoor hydroponic garden in NJ. Urban garden & farm in St. Petersburg Florida. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/2.5, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Bananas on a Bee Hive. Urban garden & farm in St. Petersburg Florida. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Orchid Flowers in the air. Urban garden & farm in St. Petersburg Florida. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/1.4, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Strawberry Plants and Berries in a Grow Tower. Urban garden & farm in St. Petersburg Florida. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/2.2 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (45.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Overall a net deficit of 25.7 kWh. Most of the hydroponic gardens were off or only on for fewer hours. Also, the thermostat for the Geothermal heater and hybrid heat pump hot water heater were set for vacation mode.

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Sunday (22-December-2019) — New Jersey

Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

Since I will be off to Florida for the holidays, I needed to harvest and shut down the indoor AeroGarden farms. The farms on the ground level have an extra 1 gallon water bottle with a gravity feed, so I will try to keep the plants in these trays going. The AeroGarden Farms also have a “vacation mode” where the lights are only on for 8 hours (rather than 16-17 hours). The Swiss Chard, Broccoli Raab, Kale, Basil, and Arugula were all harvested, packed in vacuum bags and frozen. The other greens and leaves were bagged for the Florida chickens. I was able to harvest two more strawberries before leaving.

Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slide show.

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Rained much of the day. Overall a net deficit of 25.7 kWh. Most of the hydroponic gardens were off or only on for fewer hours. Also, the thermostat for the Geothermal heater and hybrid heat pump hot water heater were set for vacation mode.

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Friday (20-December-2019) — New Jersey

Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

I harvested my first indoor hydroponic Broccoli today. Most folks didn’t believe it could be done. The broccoli leaves were giant allowing only two plants to thrive in a single AeroGarden Farm hydroponic tray. The Cauliflower also just started to form a head. Unfortunately, since I was about to leave for Florida for a couple of weeks it would not have time to fully develop. Both the Broccoli and Cauliflower went into my stir-fry dinner.

Indoor Hydroponic Broccoli Harvest. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/2.5, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (96.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (35.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Rained much of the day. Overall a net deficit of 61.7 kWh.

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Thursday (19-December-2019) — New Jersey

Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

I harvested the first of the indoor hydroponic strawberries today. Before tasting them I took this focus stacked image with some German chocolate.

Indoor hydroponic Strawberries and Chocolate. Composite of 50 focus stacked images taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/2.8. 1/15 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (99.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (27.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Rained much of the day. Overall a net deficit of 72.2 kWh.