We got dirt!

Much to my surprise, the local garden supply place actually had vermiculite and perlite in stock in 2 cubic foot bags.

• 2 cubic feet of perlite $23
• 2 cubic feet of vermiculite $23
• 3 packets of seeds $6

This brings our grand total to $195. Getting up there! I was thinking that next time around I might use compost from our pile instead of the dirt cocktail. We are building up quite the compost pile. Lots of kitchen waste, lawn clippings, then in the fall the whole neighborhood puts out huge piles of leaves for collection. I think we'll make some late night raids on those piles!

Really for the next run if I can use our homegrown compost the only new expenses will be seeds and replacing the fluorescent bulbs if needed. Once I've settled on a particular variety or two the family and I like, the cost of seed should be less, and I can reuse the seeds from one year to the next, at least for a couple years. Actually, not really sure how long the plants will grow before they need to be replaced. Ah, and of course fertilizer as well... But at any rate the big expenses are in the startup costs. Ha, perhaps it's a bit soon to be making a 5 year plan, lets see how the first run goes.

Anyway, picked up three new varieties of seeds at the garden shop:

• Fourth of July Hybrid
• San Marzano
• Mortgage Lifter

I'd read about Mortgage Lifter before and liked the name. So now I have 11 types of seeds and ten buckets, one of them won't make the cut.