Going to be trying a basement garden

[pegkerr]

I have decided to make a basement garden, to help me save money.

I got this in my weekly Dollar Stretcher e-mail (to subscribe, go to The Dollar Stretcher):

I would like to share one of my ideas for bringing fragrant warmth into the house.

I make a lot of soups and stews in the winter. I keep a fresh herb (and flower) garden in my basement. It takes up about two by four feet of space. When I add the herbs to the soups and stews, the fragrance of fresh herbs infuses our home, and feels so good, too, when eaten.

This is how I do it:

* I have a four-foot shop light outfitted with cool white and warm white fluorescent tubes. I hang the shop light from a wooden frame. You could hang them from the ceiling joists, too. (You might want to staple a piece of plastic to the wood to keep debris from falling from the floor above onto the plants.)

* The lights are plugged into a heavy-duty timer, set for 6am to 8pm.

* I water once a week.

* The six-inch wide round pots were saved from some geraniums I bought about four springs ago. (Each fall I take cuttings and have plants for the next spring).

* I put a coffee filter in the bottom of each pot, so the soil does not run out the holes in the bottom of the pot and the water does.

* I bake the soil in the oven in a large pan for an hour at 250 degrees. I add water to the soil mix before filling the pots.

* I set the pots into a large (28-quart) shallow plastic bin.

The four-foot light will accommodate three bins, and each bin will hold six pots comfortably. The geranium colors provide a happy reminder of spring, fall, and summer.

The herbs that I plant are Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Parsley, Chives, Dill, and more. I get the herbs in my grocery's produce section for $2 a pot. Repotting them really helps them to grow and flourish.

Well, this seemed like a very good idea to me. I love to garden, and I grow a lot of flowers and vegetables. In fact, my gardening habit has really gotten out of hand: I'm now maintaining four gardens, and the expenses for plants each spring were killing me. Why not save money by starting my own seeds from scratch?

I went to several garden stores and found lights for starting seeds--for $150.00 for a 24" set up! Gulp! But I talked to a very helpful consultant at the store, who told me: "Go to Menards or Home Depot." When I got to Menards, I discovered that the florescent shop lights and bulbs were on sale, and a rebate was available. I got two 48" shop lights, with cool and warm bulbs, for $32.00, and I'll get a $4.00 rebate! Wow, what a savings! Now instead of buying two flats of impatiens for $18.00 each or 20 containers of basil for $1.50 each, or hanging baskets of flowers for $20.00, I'll be able to start my own seeds for pennies. I have been collecting plastic berry containers, the kind with the fold-over tops, which I figure will make them sort of a miniature greenhouse. I plan to use those for starting the seedlings.

Any of you tried this? Do you have any suggestions?

Comments

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

well not in the basement, but I definitely done herb growing in pots through the winter. The biggesting things to remember are not to over water or over light. You don't want them to grow too fast unless you can use it. And be sure to keep them prunes so they don't germinate.

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

I used to help my grandparents start the seeds for their extensive (incredibly extensive) veggie gardens every year (Feb/March?), they used old cake pans for starter trays. It was so much fun as a kid to be a part of, my grandpa always got the kid's mixed seed pack from the catalog and I got my own tray and section of the garden. Setting it up in the basement always worked well for them, and they just had very simple light set ups and timers.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

galacticvoyeur is good at seed-starting. Get him on the phone.

K. [put the lights really really really close to the seedlings, or they get leggy. Like 1" away or something. Ask Jeff. Oh, you can borrow my "Seed Starters Handbook" if you want]

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I'd love to borrow the book. Thank you! I'll call you.

[boxofdelights]

Baking soil makes your house smell...not necessarily bad, but definitely odd. And unless your soil is a well-balanced loam, it won't support seed-starting as well as a soilless mix from Home Depot.