newgrower15 here is an idea that I had and built. You can make it the size that you need my is smallish.But you can build a couple and set them in different areas of your house, I am going to post all the pictures then give the directions after just to make it easy for me, the total cost was 63$ if money is an issue for you. When you go to a lumber store, in the wood working area they have unfinshed wood in packages for walls they come in a certain lenght 32 inches long and 12 planks, get two pieces of wood I used pine, 10 inches wide, have them cut it there 32 inches long, get 4 dowels for the legs get the sturdy ones, screws or nails 1 1/2 inches long and some shorter ones, stain if you want cordless drill, maybe you have one light fixtures make sure they are small enough to fit in the skirt of the box 30 inches or smaller, take a piece of the small planks hold thin side to one of your big boards measure and mark with a pencil the edge of the board then take the dowel and hold vertical and mark with a pencil, make a line in the box that you just marked to find center do that for all four sides, drill a small hole through the big board, now if you can find a second pair of hands it would help.(I never can find that, everyone scatters when I start a project lol) keep the dowel centered in the box for it that you marked screw or nail board to dowel leg, complete all four, the table will be very wobbley so be very careful in this stage, the legs will break off the big board I need to mention that you should have marked both big boards and drilled holes 8 in all, turn it over legs sticking up and put the other board on the legs match up marks and repeat, by this time it is much more stable but still fragile. Take one of the small planks and drill it to the legs, remember you made marks so that it should fit flush on the legs and right under the big board still use caution do this on upper lower and front and back, now the sides, this is where I have a power tool you may not have a electric saw, but you can use a had saw, the small boards are not thick so if you measure the distance from the inside front to the inside back and mark it and saw the plank it should be the hardest part of this project. Now it is very sturdy. you can now put stain and varnish if you like thats what takes time, then after it drys you can put your lighting in I put black satin with velcro attaching at the back for the one that is finished you can put what ever you like from cloth to hard plastic, I hope this helps or at least gives you an idea. Deanna

I live in Zone 5 too with a similar last frost date. I only grew chocolate mint, spearmint, grapefruit mint, and lemon balm last year from cuttings a friend gave me. But the year before I grew a few items from seeds indoors. I didn't have a back porch then like I do now so it was literally stick the container in the windowsill and pray type deal. But I was able to start seeds the last week of Feb to the first week of March with decent results. I covered the containers with saran wrap to create a greenhouse effect, poking some holes in the wrap for air. The window I used was near the heater and had plenty of sun. I also tend to keep my apartment on the warmer rather than cooler side in the winter. But it worked for me at the time.

Seed starting soil is needed. Its also sterile and has no insects or diseases that can kill young seedlings. Suspect that they are being over watered, and lack sufficient light. If you do see yellowing leaves thats a sure sign of too wet soil. Potting soil might be fine for well established plants for outside, but you may also have very tiny fungus gnats in it that could infest every single plant indoors or out. The use of yellow sticky traps placed horizontally near the pots, as well as some careful observation is necessary. Do not use fertilizers for these young seedlings. Seed starting medium is made of things like shreaded coconut husks (coir) and a little perlite. I start seeds for many herbs and flowers indoors. Right now, I have over 150 plants growing from seeds, and have neary no losses once they are ready to be translanted outside. The fastest germination I had was with Brussels Sprout seeds. They took only two days to sprout and were over an inch tall in 3 days! Right now, all my petunias, oregano, impatiens, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe seeds are doing great under plant lights. I have the lights on a timer for about 18-20 hours per day. Plants do need a small amout of darkness time, but because plant lights are only low power substitutes for sun, they do need to be very close to the seedlings, like about 2-3 inches. My plant shelves are metal with 2'x4' shelves and use two 4 foot shop light fixtures with two lamps each fixture per shelf. They are attached with chains and are raised when the plant growth starts to touch them. In a tray of 32 pots of 2"x2" each will have single plant once they are at 2 inches tall. Natural Beginnings is a seed starting medium from Gardens Alive. Even though their prices are a bit high, I always prefer to use some of that medium with added Jiffy mix, a similar product, and any other sterile seed starting medium. These are all actually 'soilless'. Dill can reach a few feet tall and doesn't do as well indoors. The pots need drainage holes in the bottoms. All my seed staring has been very successful for well over 40 years now, and I will be picking peppers and tomatoes in early July, while everyone else still has only a few blossoms showing. I also use heat mats under my trays, and ove each with clear plastic dome lids. The lids get removed once the leaves touch them, then I also unplug the heat mats. If the mats are left on, they tend to dry the soil out very fast, so I shut them off and just grow by the room temperature after that. Before being planted outside, each tray is moved to my small glass greenhouse outside for about a week to 10 days, where the direct sun will 'harden them off'. This reduces translant stresses and gives the plants a lot of strength beforehand.

If it is not absolutely essential to have fresh basil leaves in all your prepared foods, may I recommend that you make a simple pesto of olive oil and fresh basil instead. Upon searching the subject on the web, the idea that worked best is placing the pesto in plastic bags. Then you flatten them out and freeze them. I use this simple pesto as a seasoning only. Whenever I make a tomato sauce I just break off a chunk and add it in. You don't need much, as it is extremely strong. And when I make pizza, I just add a little to the garlic and olive oil mixture which I brush on the crust before adding the other ingredients. I would imagine that, if you wanted a traditional pesto, then you could thaw it and add the remaining cheeses and pine nuts. Since you are able to grow a large number of plants, a good stash of pesto would go a long way to reduce costs during the winter months. You would then only have to purchase a smaller amount of fresh when you absolutely need to sprinkle a few fresh leaves on a dish. When growing basil, keep pinching it back to keep the plant productive and bushy. Ideally, try to keep it from flowering. Usually when it starts to try blooming, I harvest it at this point. Parsley should do well for you, but it's at its best in cooler fall weather. My heat zone is a little cooler than yours, and I've harvested it well into November. With regard to rabbits, just buy a roll of that galvanized fencing which has smaller squares near rhe bottom and that should help. If in a garden area, I just purchase 3/4 inch PVC tubing, cut it in half and use it to prop up the fence. Or you can cut the fence to size to make cages for your plants. When used for seasoning, you can also make a simple parsley pesto as well, freeze as above, and use the fresh only when needed for garnishing. In addition, a quick search on the web also resulted in an oregano pesto. However, my inclination would be again to keep it simple using only the herb and oil and save it for seasoning purposes. Perhaps you could connect with an area farmer to grow the additional herbs you need. Happy cooking and much success to your restaurant!