It happens every year. Just after the New Year begins, I become antsy. I have finally stuffed my Christmas tree back in the closet, and I have put my party dress away. I’ve played a bezillion games on my iPad. But nothing is helping. It is at least 3 months before I can escape outside  and work in my garden. Bit by bit, I  start becoming little more than part of the furniture inside my house.

But fortunately, I wake up — before it was too late. It is simply time for me to start gardening inside–just for a while–long enough to bridge my spirit into spring.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a sweet little garden house,, but that doesn’t stop me. I turn my liiving room and dining room into my garden house. In this post, I’ll tell you how you can do the same thing. Don’t be alarmed by the expenses involved in this endeavor. I have been doing this several years, and I simply add to my equipment each year. The good news is that the stuff you need will serve you for many years. Just do what you can each year,

Unless your living room–or gardening room–has a glass roof and walls, you will need grow lights. Hubby’s shop lights will not do. I order my grow lights from Amazon:

DYMOND BoostGro LED Grow Light Full Spectrum 5000K Daylight + 660nm Red Linkable Indoor Plant Lighting Fixture Tubes (3FT, 4, Pack)

I like that the Dymond lights come with chains and hooks. I grow my plants on metal-meshed shelves, and I hook the light for each shelf  on the bottom of the shelf above.

I also like that the electical cords on the Dymond lights can link. One outlet can feed several linked lights, Believe it or not, that becomes important.

I have several greenhouse shelves like the ones shown above. My shelves stack higher, and I clip a grow light above each shelf.

ROJASOP Shoe Rack Organizer, 8-Tier Metal Shoe Rack for Closet Entryway Garage

I also have several of the above shoe racks. I rearrange them into all kinds of configurations At about $26 per unut, this is the best buy on Amazon. I use these shelves for everything but shoes.–Very Versatile.

I buy all my vegetables and herbs [tomates, peppers, etc.] as 4″ pots from Bonnie. You can buy Bonnie plants on Amazon or at bonnieplants.com. In addition, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and every garden center I know sells Bonnie plants.

I order the larger pots from Amazon, too. I buy 1 gallon, 2 gallon, & 3 gallon nursery pots. I recomment repotting the tomatoes in 3 gallon pots. Under the grow lights, the tomatoes leap. You will need good potting soil.  always use soil enriched with fertilizer. When you repot tomato and pepper plants, you need to add Calcium Nitrate:

How to Use Hi-Yield Calcium Nitrate to Prevent End Rot when Planting and or Potting Tomatoes & Peppers

always support the stems from the first transplanting until I ultimately plant them oitside. Tomatoes are ruined by weak and crooked stems.

Repotting Tomatoes in Large Containers Inside Today — Hoping for an Earlier Crop — The List of Tomatoes I Am Planting & Why

I use wooden meat skewers i buy at my grocery stor, but you can also buy shishkabob skewers on Amaon.:

And bamboo arched trellises on Amazon:

Coloch 20 Pack Bamboo U Trellis Support, 16 Inch U Loop Plant Stake Arch Garden Trellis

I use plain white string to tie my plants to the supports.