Grow Light is working great.

    I added several things to my grow light system today. I added more sugar peas, tomatoes, marigolds, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, onions. and oregano. If you want to see the secret to my system look UNDER the flats. What I needed to really kick start my plants is heat. If you look for growing pads they are between 30-100 bucks - EACH!!

   I found a really good idea online on creating your own heating pad: a rope light. It is water-proof and will not get very hot, however it WILL get warm enough to give my plants the extra heat needed to really grow. I bought two 6 foot rope light for $5 a piece and they work great. As you can see my seeds are setting right on top of them.

 

I have more stuff to add but need to wait a bit longer. I feel now that I won't have to buy very many plants for my garden. My goal next year is to buy zero and start all of them myself. Much cheaper.

I am having my knee done tomorrow, so when I am able to get around better should be the time to get some more stuff started and some of what is growing now planted outside.

Productive day.

After a leadership meeting this morning at 7am and then taking Luke to get our haircuts, I was able to get some projects done outside. I am having knee surgery next week and I really wanted to get a few things done because I will be out of it for a while.

The first thing Luke and I did was to take an old sandbox and turn it into our new strawberry patch. I already had a Junebearing variety and wanted an everbearing variety too. Our family loves strawberries and we haven't had any for a couple years. It takes 2 years to start having a decent crop of strawberries and this patch is on its 2nd year and should produce a good crop this year. I covered them with straw to help with the colder weather we get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am putting the old sandbox next to it and will plant our new patch when the weather gets warm enough to be safe.  It may not look like much now, but as it starts to grow, it will be full of those yummy strawberries. I like to keep my strawberries in a contained area and the sandbox will work great. I will work the soil and add compost as it gets closer to plant.

The past few years I have wanted to have a compost bin and never got around to it. I have missed out on what a good compost system will do for my garden . Not anymore. I am cheap and didn't want to pay a lot for a compost bin, so I found some plans on YouTube that you can make out of pallets. I was driving home today and saw some pallets in a dumpster that a business owns near my house. I stopped and asked if they would give me a few and sure enough - they said "help yourself". I picked up 6 and built this bin with Luke's help.

 

 



My wifey asked me this year to add raspberries to the mix. I am planting red and yellow raspberries and built a trellis system to keep them from taking over my yard. The area will be 3' x 15' and I used treated lumber to build the trellis. I am not finished yet, but got the posts in a squared up. I will "train" the raspberry plants in a "V" shape which will maximize productivity. I am really excited about getting these going. I will be adding a weed-guard trim to help with weeds crowding in. After I plant them, I will add some compost/mulch to keep weeds away.

 

 

This Spring and Summer should be a fun and productive time. 

 

 

 



White outside.... Green inside

Outside today it looks like this:



BUT inside looks like this:

 

 



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 I have sugar snap peas, head lettuce, and broccoli growing after 4 days  growing under my new grow light system. Everything has germinated and the tp rolls are working awesome. Pretty neat idea. Here is a link on how to do it:

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxbBdI1CPlo

 

 

I also cover my seeds w/ plastic or actually put them in a large ziplock bag. This keeps heat and humidity in that is needed for good germination. I also document the date planted and the pattern in which it was planted. All of this helps as the days/weeks go on - my memory is short.

 

While it is cold and nasty out side I am making some trellis using metal 1/2" conduit. Right now at Menards a 10' piece in $1.50. I will be using this trellis for peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I am going to try to go more vertical this year and see how it goes. The cool thing about this project is you can make it any size you want. I am making 2 5' x 10' for my peas and several 6' x 3' for tomatoes. Here is the link on DYI trellis:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCCx93hEoa8

 

 

Lots more to do as the weather gets warmer. Even when it is bad out, you still can get a head start by getting things done inside.

In the beginning...

Genesis 2:15

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

 

I guess it was meant to be.... my love of growing stuff. As I reflect on growing up, working in the garden was just that - working. My parents gave me the job of weeding, hoeing, and at times picking the garden. Since it was "a job" to get done, it was not enjoyable. As I got older I began to enjoy my garden, mowing grass, and learning how to do it better. This "blog" will not be anything professional nor will it be the only way how to do things.

 

I am cheap and with a limited cash flow and I will be looking to be as frugal as I can. There will be many things done DYI (do it yourself). Some projects will work and some will not - that is the learning process as I go along.

 

One thing I look forward to is how other people garden and the projects they DYI. Feel free to add tips and things that have worked for you. I have spent many hours in the evening searching YouTube for different projects and appreciate what people have posted. Some of the ideas you will see on this blog. Here is one I finished last night:

 

 

 

I picked up a plastic shelf at Lowe's last night and 2 shop lights for around $50.00. The grow lights online and in the gardening magazines go for $85-200 depending on how many shelves it has. I am just beginning to start my seeds and it will fill up quickly as the season gets going. Right now I have sugar snap peas and broccoli starting under the lights. They are cool season plants and will be transplanted before anything else.

 

 

It is located by a window that will get a lot of sunlight. It is also in our dining room - wifey doesn't like that much BUT it is temporary and the best place for it.

 

I am also using paper towel and toilet paper rolls as seed starters. It is amazing how much tp a family of 5 goes through. As the plants grow and are transplanted, the rolls will decompose while in the ground. It is a cheap and easy way to start plants. Here is a pic:

 





This should be fun. Lots to do and lots to learn.