With that wildlife around you had better grow it in your basement. Otherwise you'll never get to eat any.
I would suggest that you get a heating tray for your sprouts. That is if you are going to grow from
seed. That's always the first thing you have to decide once you know what you want to grow.
seed or starter
plant.
I'll assume you are thinking about
seeds since that is what I do. Then the next questions is what are you going to grow them in. Some people like peat pots I don't because they dry out to quickly. Some use egg cartons. I tried that but again they dried out to quickly. These year I'm going to try 6 oz yogurt cups. It's going to require a bunch more potting soil but for me I think it is going to be worth it.
Now about your grow light. if you want to you just buy 4 ft florescent shop lights with the T12 cool and hot tubes for it and you will be fine. Just keep the light two to four inches above the
plants. That means using very long chains for them lol.
Potting soil. I don't like starting soil because it has a bunch of peat in it and it drys out to quickly for me. I use a regular potting soil withing fertilizer in it if I can find it.
Heating trays will make germination that much quicker which is always nice.
peppers will germinate almost a month faster with the use of a heating tray.
About tomatoes. Find a type that is made to grow in pots and plan on it getting 8 feet tall by the end of the "
growing season". So if you are going to use stakes or a trellis or anything make sure you put it in place when you
plant because you don't want to mess with the
plants roots once it is up and
growing. Although with tomato
plants if it breaks just stick the top in more potting soil and keep it moist and it too will root.
lettuce is a cool weather
plant so you could start it in your basement now. loose leaf varieties are usually more productive because you can just harvest the leaves you want to use and let the
plant keep on
growing. Only
plant about 4 every other week so you have it all year long.
If I remember correctly on average you want 6 tomato
plants per person and the same with
peppers. Of course that depends on how much your family likes a certain veggie.
I would go for the bush beans rather than the pole beans but you are going to need a bunch of them to make it worth your while. Personally with limited space I would try for something else rather than beans but that's just me. Someone else may have a different take on the matter.
With the prices of spices being what they are you might want to have a nice little herb garden in your basement along with your veggies. Chives, garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, and sage have all worked well for me inside.