It's kind of a long story, but the end result is that I've started an indoor garden in my office. It's got beans growing now, but I have just gotten peppers germinating, and will be the main focus for a while (until I add tomatoes).

The setup is assembled from stuff I had laying around the house, and is two double-tube 48" fixtures. They are on a leftover computer rack, wired with old extension cords and attached to a timer. I used butt connectors and shrink tubing to make sure my connections were safe and strong.

It started with beans germinating in parallel with a high-school biology experiment (my wife is a teacher). Then I decided it might work to extend, and I started to think about what would work well in containers. Peppers came to mind. I bought some packets of seeds for cayennes and serrano chiles. Started 2 weeks ago, they have just started to pop up now.

My expectations for the project is something like my expectations for the dancing bear: it's not how well the bear dances, but that it dances at all. I know my setup isn't going to generate maximum production, it's just fun to have in my office as a conversation piece and hobby.

Here's a low-quality cell phone pic so you can see what I'm talking about.

Still, I welcome questions and comments.