Food 2021 Garden Thrad

yeah, our room f'n glows. It's also our work-out room so the lights get shut off when we're in there for long. Hope you find something that works for you. I'm using 40" straight tubes that look like T-8s, daisy-chained and strapped to a lightweight frame. Gonna tear the reflector off my faithful old T-5 and use it for LEDs.
yeah, that was my old setup. PVC frame, hung T8s. It just took up too much space that we just dont have.

The new trays from park seeds help with that, but i actually dont like em. Cells are way too small compared to the ones i had already that were the nonstandard
 
  • Gravy
Reactions: wetwillie
yeah, that was my old setup. PVC frame, hung T8s. It just took up too much space that we just dont have.

The new trays from park seeds help with that, but i actually dont like em. Cells are way too small compared to the ones i had already that were the nonstandard
Always something. I invested in a super "Martha" 2years ago - 6'wX24"DX6' tall. Five shelves of chrome plated shiite(Seville brand, nothing special. .order factory direct for best prices). Basically find a shelf where the trays can go in longways, then go vertical to save floor space.
 

Thanks for that. Need to do some cipherin' as it seems the surface temp of those things is way hotter than a regular lamp. Coop likely too small to mount it safely away from everything. Need some standoff and heat shield, at least above it at minimum, and wire cage around it so they can't bump into it.
Don't need to burn the damn thing down just keep it warm.
 
  • Love
Reactions: wetwillie
Thanks for that. Need to do some cipherin' as it seems the surface temp of those things is way hotter than a regular lamp. Coop likely too small to mount it safely away from everything. Need some standoff and heat shield, at least above it at minimum, and wire cage around it so they can't bump into it.
Don't need to burn the damn thing down just keep it warm.
I think they are fine, I'll report back, one is winging to me now. I got the 200w, maybe overkill? Oh, I have the ceramic base baby animal light fixture with the wire shield so it was an easy choice. I cut an inner liner of 1/4" screen when I installed it. Didn't want some dumb cluck pecking it and then I'm greeted by fried chicken.:rolleyes:
 
  • Haha
Reactions: HipHugHer
@HipHugHer - negative on the ceramic "emitters". Shit, takes forever to get hot, doesn't cut it. Maybe for a lizard box or such. It came yesterday morning and I went out and played with it. Was so disappointed. Went grocery shopping later, found a Honeywell Heat Buddy, mini-ceramic heater with fan. 250 watts on high, super quiet, like a small computer fan when new. THe tip switch is a button that gets pushed when you set it down. A piece of quality tape and it was good to hang. Yes, by the cord - it only weighs like 1/2 a lb. $17 Amazon product ASIN B00I4UVGHO
 
  • Love
Reactions: HipHugHer
@HipHugHer - negative on the ceramic "emitters". Shit, takes forever to get hot, doesn't cut it. Maybe for a lizard box or such. It came yesterday morning and I went out and played with it. Was so disappointed. Went grocery shopping later, found a Honeywell Heat Buddy, mini-ceramic heater with fan. 250 watts on high, super quiet, like a small computer fan when new. THe tip switch is a button that gets pushed when you set it down. A piece of quality tape and it was good to hang. Yes, by the cord - it only weighs like 1/2 a lb. $17 Amazon product ASIN B00I4UVGHO

Thank You. Both for biting the bullet on the ceramic thing and for finding a better alternative.

Everything I looked up on those ceramic things had to do with snake and lizard people. My chickens aren't cold blooded nor do they live in a glass box.

That little heater looks like just the ticket, especially with a little fan to circulate/help direct.

Now I'm wondering why I didn't already think of the little heaters women use under their office desks and shit. 🤦
 
Ha! I typed in "facepalm" with a colon on both ends and it made the little 🤦 thingy. Gonna try that with some other words.
 
Thank You. Both for biting the bullet on the ceramic thing and for finding a better alternative.

Everything I looked up on those ceramic things had to do with snake and lizard people. My chickens aren't cold blooded nor do they live in a glass box.

That little heater looks like just the ticket, especially with a little fan to circulate/help direct.

Now I'm wondering why I didn't already think of the little heaters women use under their office desks and shit. 🤦
The ceramic heater is much safer than one with glowing wires. And yeah, the fan really makes it. I think you'll be hard pressed to find another one in this wattage range. 250 on high, 170 on low? Perfect.
You're welcome! Now to brag . . . . . 8 eggs in one day!! Out of 11 hens. Incredible. Wife sent me a picture with heaviest one yet, captioned "I bet that hurt coming out" :lol:
 
  • Love
Reactions: HipHugHer
Heater update - went out there, thermostat set to 26f, it was 26.5, I pushed up to 27. It ran for about 3 minutes, off at 28. Continued to climb to 29.4 and stopped. The thermostat has 2 outlets - I'll plug a cheap analog clock in to see what it runs from 6 pm-6 am tonight. Just to see. :)
 
  • Gravy
Reactions: HipHugHer
@fly mentioned mushroom grow kits, thinking I would give them the thumbs down because I grow mushrooms. nah, those things are fine, they are, as I will show, the same thing I do, I just make 12-16 of those kits at a time. Most kits on the market are 6-8 lbs. and will produce, optimally, 2-3 lbs of mushrooms. 4 if you're "pro grade" :) Anyways . .
Start with purchased mushroom spawn - this is like a mushroom kit, but the food is almost entirely eaten up by the mushroom roots/ "mycelia". All the mycelia in the bag is like the BORG collective - part of the whole but can function independently. Genetically identical.
20210126_184601.jpgSPAWN - $28 for 6-7 lb.s, that gets made into 8, 8 lb. bags. *I bought two bags of spawn so I made 16 "kits". Planning for 45- 65 lbs of "King Oyster" shrooms. They can get, allegedly up to 3" diameter stems, 12" long. I've had some maybe 2"X8" - my space won't allow me to go bigger.

8 bags, each was filled with 1/2 gallon of wood stove pellets, 1/2 gallon of water, pressure cooked for 1 hour. Each bag then gets 2.5 cups of the spawn, sealed and set in a room temp location(dark) for 10-14 days.
20210202_053353.jpg

Ok, 2 weeks later - ready to go. This is basically what they ship you in a mushroom kit. DEpending on type of 'shroom, you will either cut the top off or poke holes in the bag.
20210202_053332.jpg
One week later . . . .
Left is on day 7, middle is day 5, right is day 3. :)
20210222_155930.jpg20210222_155913.jpg20210222_155909.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: fly
@APRIL hates mushrooms. How can I get her to like them?
do you cook them properly? Mushrooms are one of the few things where more cooking is better. Undercooked mushrooms are gross, and it takes a LOT of heat and time to get them flavorful and nice texture
 
I saute them with onions and garlic in a little butter, olive oil and worcestershire.
I might add other spices depending on how I feel about that particular situation at that particular moment.
 
do you cook them properly? Mushrooms are one of the few things where more cooking is better. Undercooked mushrooms are gross, and it takes a LOT of heat and time to get them flavorful and nice texture
I don't hate them, just don't seek them out.

Plus I got ill last time I ate them. :/

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
I tend to stick with the white/button mushrooms. I've never gotten sick off the young ones. The bigger aged mushrooms have indeed had adverse effects on me.
 
Eddie grows them. I had never met a mushroom farmer before Eddie.
Technically, I guess I still haven't actually met one.

@wetwillie did mushrooms just start growing in your basement and you decided to nurture them or is this something you did on purpose from the beginning?
 
@APRIL hates mushrooms. How can I get her to like them?
She might like one of these in the right time and place ;)

You might want to try oyster mushrooms. They are substantially different from white buttons and portabellas - those naturally live on shit, they need to eat plants that have already been ran thru the digestive system of a bird, bug or animal. Oysters naturally live off plants, more specifically, decaying wood. And they don't have the worrisome cancerous chemical you need to destroy thru cooking that the whites and portabellas have. She could be sensitive to that. And yes, that chemical is greater in older mushrooms.

Eddie grows them. I had never met a mushroom farmer before Eddie.
Technically, I guess I still haven't actually met one.

@wetwillie did mushrooms just start growing in your basement and you decided to nurture them or is this something you did on purpose from the beginning?
It was intentional. I heard about a variety called Space Coasters and thought maybe I could escape this friggin rock with them. Nope - got some high altitude, crashed back down.

This was fun.
 
She might like one of these in the right time and place ;)

You might want to try oyster mushrooms. They are substantially different from white buttons and portabellas - those naturally live on shit, they need to eat plants that have already been ran thru the digestive system of a bird, bug or animal. Oysters naturally live off plants, more specifically, decaying wood. And they don't have the worrisome cancerous chemical you need to destroy thru cooking that the whites and portabellas have. She could be sensitive to that. And yes, that chemical is greater in older mushrooms.


It was intentional. I heard about a variety called Space Coasters and thought maybe I could escape this friggin rock with them. Nope - got some high altitude, crashed back down.

This was fun.

The way I heard it, it takes training and skill to know what mushrooms are edible in the wild. So I would imagine growing your own is the way to go if you want a constant supply or certain type.
 
  • Gravy
Reactions: wetwillie