Lettuce Grow Farmstand Review

Sometimes Instagram annoys me, but other days, it surprises me with amazing ads for products that make me say “woahhh! that’s so cool!”. The Lettuce Grow Farmstand was one of those products! It’s a vertical, hydroponic garden that allows you to grow a wide variety and large amount of produce with very little space and much less water than a traditional garden. Rob ended up getting it for me for my birthday and it has been so much fun!

I’ve always loved the idea of having a garden, but I have zero real experience and I’m probably not patient enough. Plus, with two kids, I could easily see a garden getting forgotten and dead within months. But, this one is totally hands off after you set it up and just as rewarding! I got several questions about it, so I figured I’d dump my thoughts on the hydroponic garden all in one place!

Spoiler alert, I love it and I think you will too!

Lettuce Grow Farmstand Review

Easy to Set Up

I admit that I let mine sit in the box for a bit because I thought setting it up would be complicated, but it’s not at all! Very simple, probably took about 30 minutes. One thing to note, make sure to set it up where you want it to live, and I recommend buying a dolly (mine sold out, but this dolly would be perfect) so it’s easy to turn. Once you fill the base with water it is CRAZY heavy and nearly impossible to move, so make sure you’ve found a good spot and bought a heavy duty dolly first!

Testing pH is Simple

In past gardens, sometimes my lettuce would end up tasting too bitter, apparently this can be because the pH is off. The Farmstand comes with a pH testing kit that is crazy simple, I like to test it every few weeks and if it’s off, it has instructions on how to fix it.

Great Variety of Seedlings

You can of course start your own seedlings and transfer them into the Farmstand, but this was easier in my opinion. I did have one empty spot and our friends gave us a Fresno Chile seedling which is growing like a weed too. I’m hoping the peppers start producing fruit soon, though it’s often in late summer in Denver, but I can’t wait to use these!

Each seedling on their site tells you the best place in the Farmstand to plant it, which was helpful. I got some heavier fruits and veggies like cucumber, tomatoes and zucchini for the bottom, 8 varieties of lettuce (I can’t wait for more salads!), and herbs, peppers and one flower for the top layer!

Quick Harvest Time

My first harvest happened only 4 weeks after we moved it outside! I planted a lot of varieties of lettuce since we eat lots of salads, and it’s been fun to snip off the outer leaves for harvesting and let it continue to produce. You can also fully harvest a head of lettuce, but if you do it this way, you’ll have to buy a replacement seedling. Which is really no big deal because they’re only a few dollars.

Fun for Kids

I 100% wanted this for myself, but it’s been nice that Owen has taken an interest in it as well. He likes to check it to see how it’s grown and will even taste a leaf if I pull one off for him! Thankfully, he’s a great eater, but I do think that growing your own food can be a great way to introduce them to new things and get them to try new stuff!

I hope this was helpful and if you get one, please send me pics of yours too—I need some more urban farmer friends!

BTW, easy veggie spring rolls, and black bean and tomato soup.