Nemo's Jerry-rigged Closet Garden and Pondering Kale

I finished Nemo's Garden yesterday.  Except instead of putting it in the basement which is very, very cold I used my husband's side of the closet!  To be fair, neither of us has many clothes, at least none that fit, so there was plenty of space.  We both enjoyed food heartily whilst I was pregnant and we both gained multiple pounds as a result.

It seems apropos to be growing vegetables in my closet rather than clothes.  Any who, back to the  closet garden.  The adjustable shelving unit - which can be seen here - fit nicely in the closet with room to spare which was surprising and the light was very easy to install.  Everything seems tip-top! 

All I have growing at the moment are some broccoli, cabbage and parsley seeds - none of which actually require light at this stage - but I'm ready and waiting with my brights on!

Nemo's Garden is looking a bit sad and lonely at the moment.

The My Square Foot Garden Newsletter came yesterday.  Cauliflower, collards, kale and mustard greens were added to the "Start Seeds Inside" list.  One thing that I've been struggling with is deciding what to plant and how much of each.  Part of me wants to try everything but my more rational side knows that I am far more likely to need and use onions and broccoli than, say collards or mustard greens.

Now, I love collards and mustard greens as much as the next gal but they aren't something that I regularly buy from the grocery store.  That being said I think they are delicious and I should be eating more greens.  Isn't that the whole point?

And then there is kale.  I have heard "Dino Kale" referred to again and again in gardening videos.  My cousin who lives in an Airstream trailer in Mendecino, CA praises kale as one of her staple foods and grows it in a container outside her door.  Everywhere you look people are talking about kale like it's the secret to life on earth, a miracle food - the edible holy grail.

I probably purchased kale at the grocery store once, maybe twice, last year.  I'm sure this is a deep seeded character flaw, but there it is.  Onions, tomato sauce, pickles and broccoli, on the other hand, I buy almost every trip.  The problem with broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage is you only get one head per square - anything happens to that head and your net gain is 0.  Likewise, you can only put one tomato plant per 9 square feet - unless you prune it to a single stem.  The garden plan I made seems pretty solid but I wish I had more space.

Thanks to some encouragement from +pam lachute and +Quantina Jones  I will be starting my herbs, spinach and tomato trellises asap!  Thanks ladies!

To kale or not to kale?  That is my question.

Nemo's Garden

With another #Superstorm brewing on the east coast, spring seems like a distant memory.  To get a head start I decided to start my seeds indoors - practically a necessity if you live anywhere in the northeast.

To help this process along I purchased the Fluorowing 125 watt CFL grow light at amazon.com.  The total cost for the light - ballast, 125w bulb, mounting hooks and hood - was $47.91 and can be found here.

I chose the CFL because the lower wattage translates directly to less energy usage and a lower electricity bill at the end of the month.  Despite their low wattage they still put out a whopping 7,000 lumens.

I just turned this puppy on and it's bright people - like daylight bright.

 

I have several adjustable stainless steel shelving units lying around in the basement which I think I can convert pretty easily to an adjustable mount for the light to hang on.  Moving the shelf every time I want to raise or lower the light may prove to be a nuisance but you can't beat the price.  They do sell the adjustable ratchet straps here for $12.91 but I am going to try the jerry-rigged version first.  

One of the advantages of this type of light is that it does not put off a lot of heat so it won't burn the seedlings and you can hang the light only a few inches away, intensifying the output on the plants.  The tradeoff is that you have less area underneath the light to put plants. 

I'm using the basement as my make-shift nursery so that means some major re-organization and re-purposing.

--Day 2--

I cleared an area in the basement, but now I'm concerned that it's too cold down there to germintae the seeds so I will keep them in the kitchen for now.  My plan for today was to assemble the shelving so I can install the light.

As is often the case, life has other plans for me which include shoveling snow for several hours in order to get my car out of the driveway.

Since there's normally a 6" step down outside my door I'd say we got just about 6".

It's always a magical feeling when you wake up to a snow covered world so I will take it as the gift that it is and enjoy the snow day with my daughter who is sure to be thrilled when she wakes up.