I chose to use egg cartons for some things that I would want to transplant to pots later, but I also used sets of pete pots for the plants I wanted to
jump start and get growing right away. In addition, I will be cutting up soda bottles, water bottles, and milk jugs to transplant my plants as they
get bigger.With the right nutrients, these plants will not need a very wide root system, but the taproots on spinach like to grow about a foot down.
After buying my pots and a large $3.00 bag of really scuzzy potting soil from Wal-Mart, I was set to begin. I also bought three bags of seeds for
$1.00 a piece. Total cost, $6.00
At this point, seeds are just beginning to germinate, and I don't have any green yet, but over the course of the next week I will.
Something to consider with growing plants in the basement is the pot growers and stupid law enforcement. Remember, when the police think they can look
like heroes, they will act like fools. While all my windows are covered, I plan to advertise that I am a basement farmer in order to make the local
law enforcement aware that I am not a pot grower. This sort of thing has happened before, and sucks for the people who get arrested.
With what I am growing here, I can guarantee that my family will not starve to death if we somehow lost the ability to leave our house. These plants
can be grown in the windows, and therefore, need no electricity.
In the end, I consider this the correct way to address the problem, simply fix it on a personal level and tell the bureaucrats to go to hell. I can do
far more damage to the system by simply not giving it money, than by raving against it on the internet.
This is something we can all do for a few bucks, and less than an hour. I encourage everyone who is not planning to do something like this, to do so.
Your preparedness will go a long way even if it just means saving $20 on groceries over the course of the summer.