I am gearing up for our spring garden NOW. I have sounded the alarm, and if you live close to our zone and you want to garden... you better start getting your seeds in a row! Of course, I am a little behind my own garden goal starting point. Last year my husband disassembled my grow center. He needed the space for his shop. The seed growing center was made out of scrap material and it was only intended to get us through one growing season until he could do something different. Now that he took it all apart, he will HAVE to do something different. He found grow carts at garden supply companies, but the cheapest we found cost $229 without the lights. Basically it was a $229 shelf with nice trays to hold the plants. That doesn't fit into our budget so we needed an alternative. He decided to get a metal shelf from Lowe's. It cost $70 for the shelf unit. I will be looking for disposable cookie trays with a lip so I can water the plants from the bottom. We still have some of our light fixtures that we used in the past, but he will have to buy some more because this shelf will hold so many more plants than my other little grow area. For about $150, we should have a very nice growing station including the full spectrum lights that make the plants grow!!! Due to the wind in our area, we cannot have a greenhouse. This is our way of taking some lemons and making some lemonade!!
He asked me just a few days ago if I would rather spend the money on the shelf and lights or just buy our plants this year. I told him I would love to just buy our plants from a local nursery. We started adding up the amount of plants that I plant every year, and the cost of the plants were enormous. (I plant over a hundred tomato plants)! We decided that it was much more feasible for us to grow the plants from seeds than it was to buy them from a local nursery. (If I were growing a small garden, I probably would buy my plants from the local nursery). A little money spent now yields a whole lot of produce in the spring and summer months. I think that is a good investment!
grace and peace,
julie
8 comments:
WOW, over 100 tomato plants! I am in awe...we plant about 8 , lol, of course there's only 3 of us and my son won't eat a tomato, so sad:( There's nothing I like better than a tomato & mayonnaise sandwich, but it HAS to be a fresh garden tomato, those store bought things won't do!
100 tomato plants x 20 tomatoes (or so) = Tomato HEAVEN!!!
There is nothing better than a garden fresh tomato with cottage cheese on top!! yum.
100 tomato plants x 20 tomatoes (or so) = Tomato HEAVEN!!!
There is nothing better than a garden fresh tomato with cottage cheese on top!! yum.
Oops! Sorry for the million comments. Not sure what happened.
The green in your pictures gives me hope of spring!!!!!
Wonderful! I can just envision it! I hope that you can find all those cookie trays at the thrift store! I want to see pictures!
Also, I'm so excited to hear about her wanting to be a nurse! When she gets to high school, she'll have to come visit me and I'll let her see what it's like being a PA. If I'm in the ER, I might also let her try some stitches or something. :) Hmm...so, that should give me about 2 or 3 years of practice...
Post a Comment