Lead and Soil Testing

I had always heard that soil-testing was a good idea to improve the overall harvest, but I became motivated to actually do this when I heard that urban gardens may be more suspectible to lead contamination. Although the risk is relatively low, it suddenly seemed like a good idea to actually know what my ph level was because lead contamination is less likely to occur above 6.5 ph.

The University of Minnesota's Extension service has a good article that can be found here.
Lead Contamination and Gardens

University of Ohio Extension Office FAQ

DIY grow light system vs kit in small spaces

My master-gardening-mom learned from her classes that a successful grow-light system needs to emit at least 40 watts to give the tiny seedlings the boost they need to grow strong. This new tidbit has finally convinced me that my makeshift system purchased on Saturday at a big box hardware store was not going to work. Thus, I have decided to buy a 2ft ready made kit from Hydro-farm and accept my DIY defeat.

Many garden bloggers have discussed making their own grow light systems using 4ft fluorescent lights, and I have definitely been inspired by their success. However, I live in an apartment and the 4ft fluorescent lights were just too long for my urban dwelling. I had hoped to recreate a similar system with 2ft lights, but I soon realized that there were no plug-in fixtures associated with this size that had the appropriate wattage. After spending several intimidating and vexing hours trying to understand the merits of plug-in versus direct wire lights, I walked away with two, 2 ft, 13 watt plug-in fluorescent lights. After speaking with my mom, I realized that 26 watts were not going to cut it.

So I am going to be a little less thrifty when it comes to my grow-light system. Sometimes living in a smaller space means that the economies of scale from purchasing 10 - 4ft bulbs all at once are just not possible.

The model that I am going to try can be purchased Amazon.com
2ft Hydrofarm Grow light System

Ordering Seeds

I can't believe that it is February, and I may be a bit behind in my gardening tasks. I just purchased my tomato and pepper seeds yesterday online. I have had really good success with Southern Seed Export and the US distributor of Franchi Sementi seeds, www.growitalian.com. I am going to try growing my tomatoes and peppers from seeds for the first time.

I have received varying advice on when to start. It appears as though one needs to get started anytime between 8-12 weeks before the last frost date. D.C. registers the last frost date as 4/23, but I think I have had more success waiting until May 1st. I still need to buy a light and growing set as I don't have enough natural light to keep them from growing spindly. I hope to have everything set up by February 23rd.