That's a great wheat grass set-up! I only feed wheat grass and sprouts in the winter, when it's nothing but snow outside. Sometimes I sprout in trays and just let the sprouts grow into grass. Sometimes I just grow the wheat grass for the chickens in soil. For the wheat in soil, I cut it off to feed them and then let it grow back.
I do like those baskets, though. I have to admit, I checked out the online store, looking for those baskets, too. I found a lot of different styles, but not that one. Too bad.
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I get mine at Whole Foods or another health food store as I want organic hard red winter wheat. It doesn't have to be organic but that is what I feed my chickens. I only use 1/3 cup a day for 6 hens but you can see it produces quite a bit of feed.
Agreed, very nice. I like the way you're using the water multiple times. Want to trade weather? LOL
Up in our area we just don't get enough sunlight at this time of year and it's really too cold to grow outside sufficiently. Wheat grass loves 70 degree weather, so growth is fairly rapid. Although they green up just fine with ambient lighting, it just doesn't get nearly as green as it did when I finished a crop off outside during the summer. To remedy this, I supplemented my last crop with an LED grow light (this one from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Syst...K2QE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1295399686&sr=8-3) and the result is quite stunning with one full days worth of rays. Since I use about 2 cups per 22" tray, the insides are quite dense with foliage once the shoots open up so it tends to not get enough light by passive means.
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I was having the same trouble with the darkness and the cold so I bought some Christmas rope lights and zip tied them under the racks for warmth and over the top rack for light. They are not nearly as efficient as the grow light you use but they increased my crop dramatically. I cover the whole setup with plastic to keep the light and warmth in at night then I set the lights on a timer to go on during the coldest part of the night.
We just put a 3 tier grow light stand in the kitchen for starting seeds for the garden. I planted an indoor herb garden for hubby to use when cooking, and am sprouting the pasture mix for the chickens as well. I have a solid plastic container with canvas mesh in the bottom now, but I love the idea of the mesh baskets! I'm going to have to look for some of those. Great idea!