sir archely

After a lengthy hiatus for... well... winter... my saga continues.

Though, winter wasn't all hiatus. I did get a few things set up and accomplished. My seeds have all arrived, though I'm still waiting for:
-chives,
-potatoes and,
-asparagus.
All of which don't come in seed form, and so won't ship until some time in April, so that they can be planted in an appropriate climate.

I won't go into all the detail of the varieties I've decided on for each item, but suffice to say, there are quite a few. When in doubt, I tried to go with the ones which claimed to be hardier and easier to grow, rather than fancy or exotic varieties.

The shelves were successfully built, faux-sun lights purchased and mounted on a programmable timer, and a heat mat purchased and plugged in.

I missed the start of my plant schedule by a week and a half or so, just due to forgetfulness on my part. Now that I'm into it, I don't think there will be any more problems with it. I started by planting strawberries, parsley, and basil. Strawberries and parsley apparently take the longest time to get established before frost, and I just wanted to grow some basil for indoors because I like cooking with fresh basil. In just the last couple days the first brave seedlings have poked out their beautiful green heads.

I also have some plexiglass I got for free that I might try to make some all-clear coldframes out of. Cold frames can wait a little bit to attempt though.

I'm attaching pics of the set up in my basement, and the first seedlings.