Fun winter gardening

As you may have guessed from my profile picture, gardening is a hobby of mine.  When you think about it, it has lots of benefits from healthy eating to just eating in general.  The problem with living in Wisconsin is that there is no gardening in the Winter.  I've tried plant pots of herbs in South facing windows but the lack of sunlight created stringy plants.

So last fall I was looking for a way to grow better plants indoors and was trying to find an attractive grow light on a timer when I came across the AeroGarden.  I decided to ask Santa for one and Christmas day was rewarded with a 7 pod model and the Herb kit.  I immediately started (planted?) the herbs and am now being rewarded with fresh herbs.  The first one has worked so well that I asked for a second one for Valentine's Day so I could grow lettuce.  We will see how well that goes.

With the AeroGarden you pay a bit for handholding (seed pods, nutrient kits, etc) but the units are attractive enough to be in the living area of the house and they do work.  The only drawback is they put out a BLINDING amount of light for 16+ hours a day.  Which is good if you're a plant I guess.  Check them out if you want an attractive, easy, and convenient way to grow salads and herbs (or any other plants too)

Here is a recipe idea when I last trimmed some Chives and Dill:  Mince the herbs, I ended up with a small handful, and combine with 1/3 cup Mayo and a little Lemon juice.  Spread the paste on top of a fish filet and top that with canned (drained) diced tomato.  Broil till the fish is done.

Sweeeetttt!!!!
On the heels of the nutrician class i just took - Ive been looking for (working on mentally forming a plan) a way to plant & actually GROW my own veggies in an apartment like environment (well - at least one that is not as condusive to gardening as a home w/ a back yard would be).
I'll give this a shot.
If yo uhave any suggestions for urban gardening & growing veggies that would be much appreciated!

I can't speak to veggies in an AeroGarden.  People do it and they sell Tomato and salsa seed "kits."  For me, its an herb garden.

Now gardening in general.  First I looked at the temps in San Jose right now.  Highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's.  In Wisconsin we call that Spring    I don't know about daily light but right now you are in prime Spinach, Lettuce and Radish weather.  Given an apartment you have two choices I guess: containers and a community plot.  Containers work especially if you have a balcony, you need to give them A LOT of water however.

So here is what I would try:  Get one of those rectangular patio containers, some dirt, and some leaf lettuce seeds (like Mescalun or Spring Mix).  You should be able to get them to grow and in Spring switch the cotainer to hot or subtropical plants (tomato, pepper)

Like I said, your length of day right now is a little short: 11 hours of light.  Luckily plants have a short life cycle so you can keep trying as you advance on the learning curve.

COOL!!! I didnt know if those rectangular containers would work for veggies. I have some that i used to replant easter lilies from last year. lol They have already bloomed & are beautiful.
Thanks for the recommendations - I'll be sure to let you know how my project comes out.