Plant crazy
Several months ago, I decided to set myself a new challenge -- I was going to try and grow plants from seeds. I've tried to do this before, and have always failed miserably, but I was gonna give it another shot. I started with some herbs -- basil and oregano -- and some cherry tomatoes.
I had NO IDEA what I was doing, with only sporadic internet consultations as my guide. I nearly killed all of my tomatoes (one survived) and I murdered most of my basil (three lived). The oregano did well, because I didn't transplant it at the time of the others -- the transplanting was what did it. Next, I grew some miniature peppers (chili peppers and the like). These are all in pots in a small corner shelf in my house, where they can't be gotten to by the cats. I found grow lights that can be screwed into a lamp -- they're expensive, though, and energy hungry. I'm saving up for LED grow lights, which are longer lasting, use less energy, and work better, although they look creepy.
The corner shelf with the plants looks so nice, as does having the basil growing in the window with the seedlings. It completely changes the feel of my front room. It was something that I didn't know was missing until the hole got filled.
Since then, I've been wanting more, more, more. I've started walking around my apartment with an eye for 'what could I grow here'. The apartment doesn't get a lot of light, as it's almost entirely shaded by giant pine trees. The back 'patio' is always in full shade, and there are all kinds of gross spiders back there, anyway. Plus, I have to account for the cats, as I don't want them to eat the wrong thing and poison themselves -- so I have to put everything in places where they won't get to them. But I'm a resourceful person. Plans for the future include:
So once the apartment vegetable garden/jungle is established, I will be getting cherry tomatoes, basil, oregano, roma tomatoes, chili peppers, zucchini, strawberries, green onions, carrots, and cat grass. Probably not pineapples, because those take a long time to mature, and I don't know if we'll still be in this apartment by that time. But they're very hardy, don't need a lot of attention, and would fill the ugly bare patch in front of my apartment. I kinda hope that we're not still here when they mature, because I would become paranoid that some asshole college student would take my pineapple.
Even sans pineapple, that's a full sized garden. And because it's indoors, I should be able to get year around yields.
... And now I'm going to eat some pasta with sauce flavored with FRESH BASIL, cut right off of the plant. All that effort and fretting about the plants? Totally worth it, OMG.
I had NO IDEA what I was doing, with only sporadic internet consultations as my guide. I nearly killed all of my tomatoes (one survived) and I murdered most of my basil (three lived). The oregano did well, because I didn't transplant it at the time of the others -- the transplanting was what did it. Next, I grew some miniature peppers (chili peppers and the like). These are all in pots in a small corner shelf in my house, where they can't be gotten to by the cats. I found grow lights that can be screwed into a lamp -- they're expensive, though, and energy hungry. I'm saving up for LED grow lights, which are longer lasting, use less energy, and work better, although they look creepy.
The corner shelf with the plants looks so nice, as does having the basil growing in the window with the seedlings. It completely changes the feel of my front room. It was something that I didn't know was missing until the hole got filled.
Since then, I've been wanting more, more, more. I've started walking around my apartment with an eye for 'what could I grow here'. The apartment doesn't get a lot of light, as it's almost entirely shaded by giant pine trees. The back 'patio' is always in full shade, and there are all kinds of gross spiders back there, anyway. Plus, I have to account for the cats, as I don't want them to eat the wrong thing and poison themselves -- so I have to put everything in places where they won't get to them. But I'm a resourceful person. Plans for the future include:
- A roma tomato hanging in the kitchen window from one of those upsidown growing things.
- A zucchini in the computer room growing from a hydroponic garden kit. (The light will double as a light for the room, which needs it SO MUCH, so it offsets the energy cost.)
- Several pineapples grown in the dirt in front of our apartment, as per this Instructable.
- A patch of cat grass on one of the tall drawer units on top of my desk.
- A long trough hanging in the window in the computer room for green onions and possibly carrots (that window doesn't get nearly as much light, but the onions/carrots shouldn't need it).
- Some strawberries, once I give away my extra peppers (anyone want one?)
So once the apartment vegetable garden/jungle is established, I will be getting cherry tomatoes, basil, oregano, roma tomatoes, chili peppers, zucchini, strawberries, green onions, carrots, and cat grass. Probably not pineapples, because those take a long time to mature, and I don't know if we'll still be in this apartment by that time. But they're very hardy, don't need a lot of attention, and would fill the ugly bare patch in front of my apartment. I kinda hope that we're not still here when they mature, because I would become paranoid that some asshole college student would take my pineapple.
Even sans pineapple, that's a full sized garden. And because it's indoors, I should be able to get year around yields.
... And now I'm going to eat some pasta with sauce flavored with FRESH BASIL, cut right off of the plant. All that effort and fretting about the plants? Totally worth it, OMG.