Indoor Seed Starting: an easy how-to!

Now that winter is coming along, it's a perfect time to think about your first attempt at indoor seed starting! It's a great, easy way to get the garden production going a bit earlier, and it's also a money-saver in the long run, because you can save your own seeds and then start them yourself! Especially if you're in a colder climate like I am (Michigan), starting indoors will allow you to be ready for the growing season much earlier!
In order to grow indoors you need:

• some kind of peat or other growing materials (if you want, you can get a seed starting kit)
• seeds! (unless you've saved some from this year's harvest)
• fluorescent light fixtures (they might be called a "shop light" at some stores)
• those long fluorescent light bulbs
• some lengths of chain that are 1-1.5' long to hang up the fixtures
• Some hooks to hang the fixtures from the shelves
• some kind of shelving system, or some lumber to make shelves

You want to look for a safe space in your house that is fairly temperature regulated. Also it needs to be safe from kids and pets so it doesn't get toppled over! I started on the task of hanging the light where I wanted it. Since I already have some awesome shelving units in my basement, I had an easy choice I measured the length of the light fixtures and marked out where the hooks would need to be on the shelves to correspond. I started with the top shelf, and installed the hooks where they needed to be. Once I did that, I simply hooked up the light fixture!

and here too:

Here are my little lettuce seedlings from this fall close up