Getting my garden started indoors

I know, this gadget falls under the heading of toy/tool. Indoor grow lights will take many years to pay for themselves. But I do like my homegrown salads. And I can get a jump start on the garden, harvesting lettuce in early April, instead of June, by starting my seeds indoors.

Last week, I started a flat of lettuce, spinach and kale to transplant in March. I started them about a week earlier than in previous years, and am keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have a harvest that much sooner.

Starting most varieties of seeds indoors needs a soil temperature around 70 degrees, and light for the seedlings for about 14 hours per day. Although these are fluorescent tubes, they do give off a small amount of heat. And by positioning the lights close to the soil, there seems to be enough heat for my seeds to germinate. Once I had a couple of seeds sprouted, I set the timer on the light fixture for 14 hours/day.

The container with a blue lid is my indoor sprinkler. It's just a screw top plastic jar with a lid, into which I drilled a few small holes. It works well for wetting the surface of the soil for good germination of seeds.

I pick my toy/tools carefully, as I don't like a lot of junk hanging around the house. As for just how long this grow light will take to pay for itself, I did some figuring. I used to buy all my tomato seedlings each spring, spending between $15 and $18 per season. The grow light set-up was about $150 (less about $20 with an e-coupon). I now start all of my tomato plants from seeds, saving about $15 per season. I also use the grow lights to get one extra planting of leafy greens started and in the ground, saving about $10-15 on buying leafy greens at the produce stand each spring. On top of these savings,  I start smaller amounts of other veggies under the lights, too. My guess is this grow light will pay for itself in about 6-8 years. So, while not a great pay-back timeline, at least it's not a hobby that keeps costing me money.

Keeping one step ahead of my kids

This past Thursday evening was yet another free opportunity for me to see a live performance at the university. This time it was a student recital. I haven't enjoyed this many theater and music productions since my own university years. Theater daughter was working the backstage for the performance.

So, I met up with both daughters, we had a bite to eat, and went to the recital. Although the performances are free, my daughters have become accustomed to us spending a small sum of cash on treats in the Student Union Building. One daughter loves the cup of chocolate chunk cookie poppers (bite-sized cookies), and the other daughter enjoys the salads and fruit cups.

Even on 50% off nights, this adds up. What's a budget mama to do?

Thursday afternoon, I baked a batch of my own chocolate chip cookie poppers, and made a good-sized salad to take down to campus with me. And I even brought a treat for myself. I made a thermos of herb tea just for me (the girls don't always care for my selections in tea -- all the more for me).

We still bought 1 bagel sandwich to split between the three of us. But this was a far cry from buying several items off the menu. There's a large common area in the SUB where we sat, talked about the day, and enjoyed our treats before the performance.