Well, I finally got around to setting up my grow lights today. Next up, time to start planting seeds.

First up was my main light, a thirty-six inch light fixture that I got from Karen. I hung it from the drop-ceiling using velcro ties and some excess chain from Jenny’s project to add a light to the living room.

Next up, creating a light box (of sorts) out of an old bookcase that I had sitting around. I picked up a couple of twenty-four inch light fixtures from Home Depot this afternoon, to replace my previous fixtures. I found that the low-power versions would not properly start up the flourescents, unless I physically moved the bulbs around. Not terribly optimal since I wanted all of this to be automated. A few wire connectors and screws later, I have what you see above. I’ve tied them all into an outdoor timer (since it can handle grounded plugs), and hopefully none of these will set the house on fire.
You can see all of the photos here

So far, I’m happy with how things look. The time works, and all of the bulbs come on when I give them juice (a definite plus.) Now I just need to find a bulb to replace the white bulb in my large grow light. Naturally, HD had a large assortment of 24″ and 48″ bulbs. But only one type of 36″ bulb, but it wasn’t a full-spectrum bulb. Oh well, I’m sure I can find one soon enough.

But until then, it’s time to start planting some seeds and getting seedlings ready for the ground. I’m hoping that this warm winter we’ve had will mean I can plant fairly early. Of course, I fully expect a real cold snap to come along and ruin all of this. For the curious, below is my list of seeds that I ordered. I’m sure I won’t plant all of the varieties this year, but hopefully I’ll get a fair amount into some dirt.

• Redventure Celery
• Golden Beets
• Verdi Cauliflower
• Supersette Fava Beans
• Atomic Red Carrots
• Diablo Brussels Sprouts
• Lemon Cucumbers
• Kolibri Kohlrabi
• Turkish Orange Eggplant
• Fuego Radishes
• Rat Tail Radishes
• Round Red Core Shrinmei Daikon Radishes
• Kyoto Mizuna
• Red Perilla Akashiso
• Aurora Orach Mixture
• Springer Spinach
• Mung Bean Sprouting Seeds
• Morris Heading Collard Greens
• German Red Rocambole Garlic
• Panache Parsnips
• Dakota Peas
• Cotton Candy Pumpkins
• Diamond Bell Peppers
• Tabasco Chile Peppers
• Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
• Black Russian Tomatoes
• Persimmon Tomatoes
• Lime Basil
• Mexican Spice Basil
• Dulce Rojo Paprika Peppers
• Aromatic Summer Savory
• Catnip
• Signet Paprika Marigolds
• Sensationally Fragrant Niotiana Mixture
• Victoria
• Picante Salvia Splendens Mixture

First off, don’t let this guy’s cute and fuzzy appearance fool you: he’s a vicious killer. With big fangs.

Pointy fangs!

Grrr.

*fffftt*

Well, okay. He (and his compatriot in the other pictures) are only killers of plants. But they’re my plants, damnit. Poor little beanstalks never even had a chance to grow to the clouds!

Plus, rabbits do this weird thing where they pee on your feet. Or at least, I hope it’s pee. But I digress.

Got these pictures right before I headed over to see Jenny. Little bastards just sitting there, in my garden, looking at me like nothing was wrong.

“What, you mean you didn’t plant these for us? INCONCEIVABLE!”

Anyone know any good stew recipes?

So anyways, picked up Jenny and her dog, and headed over to Roosevelt Island. And took pictures. Enjoy. (I’ll get around to captioning them at some point.)

Last Sunday, I planted some seeds I saved from last season. Both cantaloupe and pepper, the variety of which I can’t recall right now. And amazingly, they have started poking through the dirt, trying ever-so-hard to live.

• – cantaloupe
• – cantaloupe
• – cantaloupe (different)
• – pepper (very hard to see)

Larger pictures here

A few snapshots from my backyard. These flowers have just started poking up in the backyard, completely on their own:

Anyone know what they are? I’m sure they’re common enough that I should know, but sadly, my botany classes in college didn’t involve a lot of identifying different flowers. Mostly just theory on botany. How useful!

And hopefully not too early, I’ve planted some bushes. One is a gooseberry bush, the other two are raspberries. I think we’re safe from frost, but of course, as I was finishing up with the dirt, the thunder and lightning started. Hopefully, nothing too major and it won’t upset anything. But hey, they were four bucks each, so I’m not going to get too worked up over it.

Update: The mystery flowers are crocus. Crocuses. Croci. Crocusen. Something like that.