What temperatures are you trying to grow them at? It's true that greens are a cool season crop. I googled to find the precise temperature, and Clemson U. says that lettuce prefers to grow at temperatures from 55 to 65 degrees F. I would think that 60F would be a reasonable compromise between the plants' growing preferences and the desire for quick growth. The lighting depends on the type of lighting used. I prefer fluorescent tube shoplights on everything--brassicas, greens, nightshade seedlings, etc. They're inexpensive, readily available, and have a good lumen to watt ratio. It's also pretty much impossible to burn your plants. I hang them on chains from S-hooks and adjust them every day or so to make sure they're practically touching the leaves. Someday they'll make LEDs in the right red for plant growth, and then I'll switch over to those. Some varieties of plants absolutely need light to germinate. I read that the light-seeded lettuces do, and you would have to undertake a complete researching of every type of green that you intend to grow to make sure that that variety doesn't need light. So I for one wouldn't go with no lights at all. Besides, unless you are very disciplined about checking them, there exists a good possibility that you will miss noticing that a few have germinated, and they'll be spindly weak little things searching in vain for a light source by the time that you hit the switch. Maybe you could compromise by leaving on just one bank of lights? It would make it easier to spot germination anyhow. I wouldn't place the lights too close while trying to germinate. You'll be trying to have a good balance between warm but not too warm, and moist, but not damp to get the fastest possible germination. Everything germinates faster at warmer temperatures, ( 70 or 77 degrees, say), however the germination RATE of the cool-loving crops can drop precipitously at these temperatures. For example, according to one source, spinach has a 96% germination rate at 41F, but takes 22.5 days to germinate at those temps. Raise the temperature to 77 degrees and you'll get germination in 5.1 days, but only 28% germination. Parsley is simply slow-growing, and it is biennial, so I certainly wouldn't try growing it as an annual and harvesting the whole plant. Instead, I would have a permanent patch of them going and just harvest off the patch, allowing the individual plants to regrow continually. You don't have your climate zone information showing, but depending on your climate I would try to keep the parsley going outside. I have a permanent patch that seeds itself every year, and am working on establishing a patch in my greenhouse under double protection for winter use. They're one of the toughest of the cold-tolerant plants.

I'd be happy to help guide you through the process. The first and most pertinent questions are: how much is your chef ordering now, from whom, and what does he pay? It should be easy for you to compete on price and shelf life unless he is using another local grower - if that is the case, you should at least be able to match that price. Depending on his volume, and your infrastructure, you should be able to get started with minimal investment. One grow light is likely NOT sufficient, nor would it be optimal in terms of maximizing your profitability, but will only be necessary until you can start growing outside (assuming you have that option) or have a good source of natural light in a minimally heated area. More important is warmth, for germination. You will need to create a system that allows you to produce several flats per week of each crop you hope to grow; for a restaurant serving 100 covers per night, for instance, that might mean as many as 60 flats in continuous production, with 15 (25%) being harvested and replanted each week. A standard 1020 flat measures 11 inches wide by 21.25 inches long by 2.44 inches deep measured on the outside, so you'll need about 120 square feet of growing space for that amount of production. With a series of stepped benches, some reflective insulation (foil-covered bubble wrap), and a few more lights, you can do this with about a 75 square foot space. Obviously, space to do this is important, but I have a system that I constructed that can be moved indoors in winter (I have mine in a hoop house) to create optimal growing conditions in minimal space. You will want to buy bulk seed (I strongly recommend FEDCO) of the varieties your chef hopes to use - we're talking seeds by the pound, if he's really committed to this - in order to keep your expenses manageable. You can't compete by using retail seed sources. Organic seed will cost more, and although that is what I recommend, unless your chef and market demand it, you may be better off with conventional seed until you have a good production system set up and have costs under control. Either way, you must use untreated seed. You will need growing medium, which you should also buy in bulk from FEDCO, and you will use a lot of it (1/4" minimum for each flat), and a good source of fresh, untreated water. You will need a packaging system - for starters, recycle what the chef is receiving his current product in now, being sure to sterilize them before use with a 10% bleach solution and possibly UV light. Ideally, you will want to irrigate from the bottom, which reduces the likelihood of diseases, but means increased cost because you will need trays to hold the water that your seeded flats will rest in. Once you have mastered an efficient production system, you should be able to grow 1/2 to an ounce of greens per flat, depending on variety and density of planting, and be harvesting each flat on a one to three week rotation, depending again on variety, germination and growth rates, and growing conditions. You should charge competitive prices - about $2 per ounce - which won't seem like a lot once you see how much seed you go through. You should find a secondary market - perhaps a local food co-op or independent grocer - where you can sell any excess if your chef doesn't need all that you produce... he may not object if you sell to a competitor, but if you do, offer your own chef a "friends and family" discount to keep things peaceful, or give him exclusive access to certain varieties. You should assume that your start-up costs will be in the range of several hundred to a thousand dollars, depending on the size of your operation, your ability to construct your own growing area, seed and materials, and liability insurance. You will likely recoup that within six months, and then your annual costs will be seed, growing media, packaging, and utilities. You should plan to spend as much as 10 hours per week on cultivation, harvesting, planting, packaging, and typical business bookkeeping at first, but once you have a system, and can begin to automate certain parts of it (lights and irrigation on timers, computerized record keeping, etc.), and become more efficient with practice, you will likely spend 6 hours a week on this. Hopefully this will give you a realistic idea of what is involved (obviously based on a lot of assumptions on my part) and won't discourage you from what could become a nice supplement to your income.

Another good source is Mumm's.

Well my DH wins the prize. He hasn't divorced me or threatened to take away my spade, yet. I don't know if all of you saw the photos that Jim (Idiothe) posted of Sheila and I with our kayaks and bikes and the car completely loaded with hostas? Well in order to do that we loaded all our gear in our boats. It is my hubby's car. (both our names are on it, but it is his vehicle 98% of the time.) I drive the used Mommy van that gets used as a truck for hauling mulch and whatever. But the kayak rack is mine, and I can't load boats on my van due to a bad shoulder. So..... he is very particular about his car. He hates me putting the rack on, he will not drive on gravel, etc. So with my bad shoulder, and the heavy boats, I couldn't lift my end of Sheil's up very well. So the J cradles kept twisting and falling down. I finally found a man to help us. We finally got it loaded, made it home... and there are dents all over the top of the car. Bad dents, like really big hail. :( Like will never come out. I feel awful, I do. Whats done is done, and he isn't holding it against me. But he is so sad. And I am too. But I did get all my hostas home! So he wins the hosta hubby of the year award. I need to get those trophies made, don't I? Anyone want to nominate their Wife for the Hosta Wife of the year award?