Revved Up Ragtag - Prepping For Spring '18
To take my mind off of the whiplash weather we're having, I turned my attention to assessing indoor seed starting needs.
There is only one space feasible for any hope of success. It has already been through a short test run with micro greens. The greens were nice, but the test was to check if it was easy to control the temperature, amount of light and capacity. I'm happy to report that it should serve as both a germination and grow 'chamber'.
The germination section is small and can be made light-free and the temperature will remain steady. Currently, it holds a few supplies, out of the way, til needed.
The ceiling of the grow portion is conveniently reflective, making the light distribution more even. For the test, I temporarily rigged up one section of LED grow lights at the top of the space. A piece of cardboard, some twist ties and a few lengths of Gorilla tape did the trick!
With four more sections of LED strips to play with, this chamber can hold stackable shelving and/or accommodate taller plants easily.
Yes, that's an old fridge. Up until recently, it's served as a storage closet of sorts. Now it's going to have a second life as an indoor greenhouse. Since it passed the test run, it'll be getting a thorough scrub down in preparation for the first batch of seeds. If I can get the timing correct, the outdoor hoop greenhouse will be constructed and in place by the time the seeds started here are ready to be moved outside.
This is one time I won't be complaining about cleaning the refrigerator!
Key Features in The Revved Up Ragtag Project.
Latest episodes of the Ragtag Saga:
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 1
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 2
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 3
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 4
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 5
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 6
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 7
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 8
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 9
Revved Up Ragtag, Part 10
Stay Tuned For The Next Installment - Coming Soon!
Upvote, ReSteem,
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Omg this is such a great idea! It’s amazinc cool! I can’t wait what you’d garden will gift you this year💜
Thanks! I'm hoping it's as functional in reality as it is in my imagination. ;~P
Look at you, now that is thinking inside the box! Lol
LOL! Good one...
'Bout damn time that box did something besides take up square footage!
I tried indoor growing without the lights and I did something..idk. But starting over. You are an inspiration. How much were the lights and other things? Joy
If I recall correctly, the light set was about $20 USD. There are five sections of lights that can be used all together (like Christmas lights) or one at a time, so it's very versatile. Other than that, everything was stuff I had on hand - even the fridge. This will be my first attempt at indoor starts, so anything that grows will be a win. ;~P
Good on you for starting again! That's the beauty of gardening - you can always try again!
Thank you Auntie Debbie
:). Joy
Great Idea, You are genius , Amazing Post here.
Lol, thanks! Not genius yet. We'll see if it works first, but I appreciate the support.
You didn’t tell us you found a fridge on the corner and dragged it home.
Hope the stuff you don’t want to think about is getting better. 🐓🐓
Lol! Not ON the corner... IN the corner. My poor back would break lugging that thing.
Thanks and things are stable at the moment. They're not worse. That's good enough. Hugs! ;~D
I do remember you talking about your fridge IN the corner. Just had to give you a hard time. Cause that’s what chickens do. They are nosey little creatures. 🐓🐓
Totally understandable and if I hadn't swapped the van for a car, that scenario would have been entirely possible! Chickens are welcome to keep me on my toes. ;~D
Yay to our gardens, brill idea recycling the fridge :)
Thanks! It's going to be a fun season!
What a neat idea! I just read a post where someone re-purposed a chest freezer into an insulated shelter for a goat, now a fridge into a mini-greenhouse? Very cool. We are debating when to get our seeds started indoors. With the freezes we have here, I don't want to start to early, but then again, last year we started too late. It's always a bit of a gamble I guess!
Thanks! I caught the chest freezer one, too. Very clever and it looks liked it's working out well for them.
I'm dancing around when to start the first batch for the same reason. I'm near Chicago and we can get these freak extreme blasts of weather out of nowhere. The localized charts I've seen give a window of Feb 24 to Mar 9 for the earliest stuff, but even that seems risky. I'm using a few other sources, besides the baseline chart to actually pick a date though. Fingers crossed we guess correctly!!
HAHA..excellent reuse of that fridge!
Thanks! Fingers crossed it functions like I hope...
I'm sure it will...but make sure to let us all know!
Will do!
That does look like a nice grow chamber. If you are looking for something more, amazon sells a decent little grow tent for about $50. But if youre just starting a few plants and germinating, this might be just right for you.
Yup, it's just to get them started. We're short on space and this fridge needs to earn it's keep again. Up til now it's housed our stash of grocery bags, newspapers and such. The game plan is to get it up and running this season, then I can use that $50 towards the outdoor hoop greenhouse. Sadly, funds are really tight with hubby not working, so I'm using what comes to hand to get this years garden off to a good head-start.
Sorry funds are tight. Its nice if you can have one big time cash crop, but that can be risky, and there is plenty to be said for being able to enjoy your own fresh vegetables. And if you really know what youre doing (which I believe you do), I imagine you can make it work with little money.
Thanks. Luckily, we're content with being homebodies which helps on a whole bunch of levels. I've been squirreling away a few bucks from here and there so I have enough for two cattle panels, plus a bit extra for surprise incidentals. Now I'm aiming for a cordless drill so I don't have to borrow the neighbor's. The greenhouse is only the first project on my list. (Don't want to be a pest although he'd probably not mind.)
I wonder what would be a good cash crop for a local produce market. Hubby goes there enough and he's always chatting up the owner. They get in stuff from all over & are known for good quality. It'd have to be something they have trouble getting. Might have to give this some more thought...
Its hard to say what could be a really good cash crop for a farmers market. Maybe raspberries could be decent but they take a year or so to get established. Also possibly asparagus. Corn is another you can get top dollar for.
Very nice post i like it