Grow Station…Assemble!

It might be snowing outside for us in Washington state right now, but it already time to start planting indoors to take full advantage of the shorter growing season. Bell peppers are already germinating, but the pace will pick up this week with tomatoes going into the starting packs. Last year I didn’t really know about growing my own plants from seed, so this will be a big help in getting more food directly under my control.

Might not seem like a lot, but in Western Washington, this is the definition of the apocalypse, but I rather enjoyed it this year.

I’ll give some background as I do not want you to think I got all this last week. If you just want to see what I did, scroll to the bottom for the details. We’ve been on our property a little over a year, but one summer. We had a small garden at our last place, but even though we quadrupled our garden space at the new place, we have only done transplants. It wasn’t that we didn’t know plants came from seed, it was just more that the way to do gardening was to buy plants. But between me following homesteaders on social media and realizing that as we continue to expand our garden area, gardening was going to get expensive. It was just time to start growing from seed (I’m also interested in saving seed, but a story for a different time). So in August I made my first seed purchase and stuck the radish and beets seeds into the raised bed as a cover crop. I also got lettuce so I could experiment through the winter.

To do that though I needed a way to start. Enter the starter tray kit. I went to the local co-op and got starter soil and a 72 cell kit. It came with 12, 6 cell sections that fit into a larger tray that would hold water, and a lid. With those materials I set about growing the 3 varieties of lettuce and spinach. Much to my surprise, the lettuce seeds germinated! The spinach never did anything, but the fact I got anything was very exciting and I watched the plants grow bigger over the next few weeks. They never really got bushy though and the expected harvest date came and they didn’t really seem ready to eat. But I went ahead and transplanted them into one of our raised beds. The weather got colder and they just never really got going like they did in summer. So back to the research drawing board I went. It seemed with the Northwest shortage of natural light, I really needed a more light. It was time to add light I could control.

I was planning on growing lettuce all winter anyway, so getting the grow light made sense. Amazon delivered and I got started on my next batch. The results were amazing! Big bushy plants that grew on the timeline the seed packets specified. I’ve been cutting lettuce right off the plant for my sandwiches in the middle of winter. But the overall process still wasn’t great. It was jammed into a corner in my office, making it very hard to water (nothing like having water over electronic equipment to tempt fate). So as I started getting my seeds for summer plants in January I knew it was time to take the next step.

Enter the “station”. We were at the big box store for something related to the house, and we spotted a 5 foot adjustable shelving unit that was black rather than the usual chrome. My wife allowed me to bring that home and set it up in the sunroom. It was perfect timing as I discovered some of the seeds I want to grow need warmer soil temperatures, so I had picked up some seedling heat mats. The shelving unit now gave me a spot for the mats and to store all the extra pots, soil and a couple of tools. Plus I could hang the grow lights from the shelves instead of the janky setup with pvc and random lumber I had in the office. It has been working out great. My last addition for this season is that I got a second set of grow lights, so I now have two heights. The idea being that as the plants grow, I can have more room. Since different plants have different times to start that should allow me to move the plants where they best fit.

Just so you don’t think my setup is perfect, this is the surroundings. Yes, the flooring is “on the list”. This is real life!

I went through some of that history because I want you to realize that if you don’t have all those tools/accessories, not to worry about it. If you are just starting out, make due with what you have and concentrate on learning how things grow in your specific situation. Hopefully, some of what I’m showing is useful in helping you on that journey, just like other people’s demonstrations and tips have helped me. Good luck growing!

Here are the details of my setup with a couple of close up photos.

• 1 Shelving Unit

• 2 Seedling Heat Mats

• 1 Starter Tray (for now)

• Starter Soil

• Potting Soil (for transplanting)

• 2 Sets of Grow Lights

• Miscellaneous Pots

• Hand Shovel