Makeshift Greenhouse

There's a little nagging voice inside of me
telling me that a greenhouse would be a great next step.
Remembering that this past winter I had virtually nothing growing outside
encourages that voice to get louder.
What an amazing feat to be able to grow year-round
and feed your family from seed to table.
Alas, it seems so daunting,
that it most likely won't happen this year.
So, we make do with our circumstances.

This weird room off of the master bath
contains only a jacuzzi tub and two fabulous windows
that let in the most beautiful morning light.

I cut some boards to size so that they fit over the bathtub
and fashioned my own "spa nursery" for seedlings
that I could no longer wait to plant.

These green bean plants grew like wildfire!
In less than a week, they were 8 inches tall!

I started cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, tat soi, 
and a mixture of herbs well before planting time,

not expecting everything to germinate and grow so well.
So, I'm in a kind of holding pattern until it's safe to transplant
some of these outdoors.
We're getting close,
with nighttime temperatures closer to 60 than 40 degrees.

This room is soon to be converted into a laundry room,
so next year I will have to figure something else out.
I'm thinking maybe we could just have some open shelving
so that I have room for flats.
Time will tell.

The sweet potato slips are coming along,
although I'm not sure they will be ready for planting next month.
I may end up having to purchase them,
as I did last year.

What a blessing though, 
to have this space to get seedlings started,
when the desire for sowing overwhelmed me.
So much of what we do is a wait and see game.
Good thing God made me a patient woman.
It comes in handy when you're a gardener.