I figured that my constant prattling about my indoor planting should have it's own home rather than adding on to Odin's enclosure thread.
If you haven't already seen it, it's nothing fancy and it's obviously short term, but it explains the seed trays we are currently using:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/indoor-enclosure-all-input-welcome.108222/
Being a Minnesotan,and being cheap (and broke!) indoor gardening was the only logical choice when my son brought Odin home. I don't have a fancy set-up, just a bunch of seed trays and plants in our south facing deck door, which is why I wanted to share. Buying fresh produce for a growing tortoise all winter seems crazy to me when seeds and dirt are so cheap and sun is free! Plus, I love gardening and already had quite a few plants (the aloe was taking over the house!)
Now, this does not mean I necessarily recommend getting a sulcata in Minnesota, (I actually think that for most people it is a pretty terrible idea) the point of the thread is more that indoor gardening is fairly easy and a comparatively cheap alternative for feeding our greens/veggie loving torts when outside is not an option and grocery stores are run by humans rather than tortoises.
Current gardens and food plants include, hibiscus (still his all time favorite) aloe, spider plants, african violets, christmas cactus, a bromeliad, a sun and shade grass mix, a mix called "Bucks and bosses" that includes clover, trefoil and chicory and I have supplemented the gardens with some easy to find flower and vegetable seeds. The vegetables so far are radish (another favorite) carrots (mainly for the greens) arugula, cress, endive, radicchio, a few lettuces, (Salad bowl, oakleaf and red salad bowl) and something packaged as microgreens (fancy name for picking stuff long before it's full grown.
) that include beets, pak choi, Kohlrabi, broccoli di ciccio and more radish. The flower seeds are marigold, nasturtium and dandelion. I have recently purchased some miniature rose bushes but it will be quite a while before I will allow them into the food chain (I am kind of a crazy hippie who does not dig pesticides. )
Most of the plants I have already had for years so they are pesticide free, the seeds trays I ordered from Amazon for a few bucks a piece. The "Bucks and Bosses" mix I also found there, it was pricey (by my standards-see cheap) at about 20 for a a couple pounds of seed (seeds half an acre) and veggie and flower seeds are 1-3 dollars an envelope if you have to buy them (some I bought some I had) and you can find them everywhere.
Here is how most of his food is currently housed. No magical greenhouse, no expensive grow lights, just a lot of tasty goodness for tortoises and humans alike. (there are some herbs in some of those pots, but those are mine!)
Odin enjoying a new tray today!
If you haven't already seen it, it's nothing fancy and it's obviously short term, but it explains the seed trays we are currently using:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/indoor-enclosure-all-input-welcome.108222/
Being a Minnesotan,and being cheap (and broke!) indoor gardening was the only logical choice when my son brought Odin home. I don't have a fancy set-up, just a bunch of seed trays and plants in our south facing deck door, which is why I wanted to share. Buying fresh produce for a growing tortoise all winter seems crazy to me when seeds and dirt are so cheap and sun is free! Plus, I love gardening and already had quite a few plants (the aloe was taking over the house!)
Now, this does not mean I necessarily recommend getting a sulcata in Minnesota, (I actually think that for most people it is a pretty terrible idea) the point of the thread is more that indoor gardening is fairly easy and a comparatively cheap alternative for feeding our greens/veggie loving torts when outside is not an option and grocery stores are run by humans rather than tortoises.
Current gardens and food plants include, hibiscus (still his all time favorite) aloe, spider plants, african violets, christmas cactus, a bromeliad, a sun and shade grass mix, a mix called "Bucks and bosses" that includes clover, trefoil and chicory and I have supplemented the gardens with some easy to find flower and vegetable seeds. The vegetables so far are radish (another favorite) carrots (mainly for the greens) arugula, cress, endive, radicchio, a few lettuces, (Salad bowl, oakleaf and red salad bowl) and something packaged as microgreens (fancy name for picking stuff long before it's full grown.
) that include beets, pak choi, Kohlrabi, broccoli di ciccio and more radish. The flower seeds are marigold, nasturtium and dandelion. I have recently purchased some miniature rose bushes but it will be quite a while before I will allow them into the food chain (I am kind of a crazy hippie who does not dig pesticides. )Most of the plants I have already had for years so they are pesticide free, the seeds trays I ordered from Amazon for a few bucks a piece. The "Bucks and Bosses" mix I also found there, it was pricey (by my standards-see cheap) at about 20 for a a couple pounds of seed (seeds half an acre) and veggie and flower seeds are 1-3 dollars an envelope if you have to buy them (some I bought some I had) and you can find them everywhere.
Here is how most of his food is currently housed. No magical greenhouse, no expensive grow lights, just a lot of tasty goodness for tortoises and humans alike. (there are some herbs in some of those pots, but those are mine!)
Odin enjoying a new tray today!
