While there is quite a bit of speculation about codex alimentarius, one thing is clear, it could happen. Instead of raving on the internet at morons, or preaching to the choir about it, I decided to become proactive, on a personal scale.

I decided that since outdoor gardens would look conspicuous, I would grow indoors alongside my fishtanks. Even if everything was just peachy and the whole thing was a hoax, I could do three things.
1. I could reduce my carbon footprint(or use it as an excuse)
2. Save money on groceries.
3. recycle my dirty tank water.

I started researching different plants and decided that I would have to combine the need for the most nutrient for the size, with the need for light. After much research I decided to grow two staple items, and play with random plants on the side.

For greens I decided to grow Spinach, the nutrients in the leaves make the plant ideal for eating on a regular basis. For fruit I decided to start a few apple trees for the yard, and grow a lot of Roma tomatoes. I will also grow some bell peppers on the side, and play with other plants as I get things started.

Supposedly, a single spinach plant can make a salad for four people every two weeks. Twenty spinach plants is what I decided to grow, it may seem like overkill, but at the worst case scenario, I can sell or give away fresh, organic spinach.

A single tomato plant should turn out about ten ripe tomatoes a week in it's prime. Five tomato plants will ensure that I have enough fresh tomatoes on hand, with the ability to give some away.

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.

This is some great stuff you're doing HappyFeet, but I thought Codex Alimentarius was already upon us.

I'm pretty sure even my country abides by it. Just when I thought this country was safe from the recklessness of the arrogant west. Rargh.

Awesome thread!
I've done the same on and off throughout my life, and I've always felt indoor gardening was a great pastime for the long winters here.

I'll be back later tonight to contribute to this thread, but I wanted to add that, if starting from seed,
ice cube trays are a great.

If done right, by the time the sedlings are ready to be transplanted into a larger container, due to the shape of the tray, the seedling shopould have formed a perfect little "root ball".

Be back later, S&F.

I have been researching indoor hydroponic gardening, and I think this is the avenue my family will go this summer. Our outdoor garden has always been above ground in 55 gallon drums, portable. But the idea of being able to grow indoors, with no loss of food from inclimate weather appeals to me. And you don't have to weed the garden. bonus.
Best wishes on your journey, and hooray for productive solutions.

Originally posted by Whine Flu
This is some great stuff you're doing HappyFeet, but I thought Codex Alimentarius was already upon us.

I'm pretty sure even my country abides by it. Just when I thought this country was safe from the recklessness of the arrogant west. Rargh.

My point of using Codex as an excuse for the thread, was to provide an incentive to do something like this.
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"Carrot in a bottle"

This was another idea I came up with. We buy an insane number of pop bottles as I drive to and from college and need the caffeine. The sad thing about all these bottles is the waste, but with this, we save plastic because we reuse it, and don't buy pots.

By placing a single turnip or carrot seed in the middle of the pop bottle, we can grow a carrot in a very tight space.

To do this simply cut the top off a pop bottle, fill with dirt, plant, and lightly water. So little water is wasted to evaporation this way, and the pot can be reused as soon as the carrot is harvested, leading to a very fast turnaround.

how exatcly do you know if the spinach you grow is organic? did you buy organic seeds?
do you use fertilizer, i also plan on growing food but i want to be sure its not contaminated.