We Bought & Built a Greenhouse!
I’ve been waiting for this day for many, many months — the greenhouse I started dreaming about last summer when we moved into our new home has finally been bought and built, and it’s officially open for business! And since I know at least a few of you book-loving friends are also plant-loving folks, I thought I’d share the news here first — along with a book I read recently that’s perfect for spring, because this is a book club not a plant club after all, hey? 😉 (scroll to the bottom if you hate plants)
Here’s how it happened. . . This past winter, the hubs and I set about researching, watching YouTube videos, and assessing our sun angles. I picked up a Fedco Seed Catalog at our local coop, ordered a bunch of seeds, and bought a greenhouse build kit from Backyard Discovery (specifically, the 9x6 Willow, link here). Then, when March rolled around, I made my garden plan, bought a pair of overalls, planted the first set of seedlings, and set up my seed trays in my brightest kitchen window.
By the first week of April, the seedlings were bursting from their cells, aching for more light and space, and our greenhouse kit was waiting in the backyard. Once the snow melted and the cold starting receding, we broke ground. Then, we were off!
A little white later, we had built our cute little greenhouse and I was potting up my seedlings inside, rushing to town to buy a small heater (because it’s still cold at night here in Maine) and more seed-starter cells (because I severely underestimated the space I’d need for all those seeds I planted), and getting ready to lay the brick floor (because it traps more natural heat and also I really want to work in my greenhouse barefoot).
As I write this, my tomato, basil, and pepper seedlings are thriving in their new home. (I even have so many tomato plants I’m trying to give a few away, because really, who needs 83 tomato plants as a newbie gardener!) And I’m preparing to start the next round of seed-starting while the hubs is hard at work finishing the brick floor and preparing to build the raised beds we’ll need to hold this little mini farm I’ve created.
Maybe I’m a crazy plant lady now. Maybe I’ve been swept off my feet by the idea of growing organic food for my family in a borderline prepper way. Or maybe I’m just deep in a nesting phase, trying to keep myself busy with a new hobby while my youngest prepares to move away to college this fall.
Who cares which it is — I’m having so much fun. And what is life for, really, if we aren’t at the very least having fun, right?
Now for the book recommendation. . .
Last month, I took a little birthday money to the used bookshop and was super delighted to find a novel about birding with a really cute cover, Birding with Benefits by Sarah H. Dubb.
When I picked it up to read the back, I smiled a HUGE smile because the main character’s name is Celeste! Suddenly I realized that never in all my life have I read a novel where the main character’s name was the same as my own. So of course I bought it and read it immediately. It was cute. It was light. It was well-written and the story was sweet. It was also bursting at the seams with birding talk (which I love), and the male love interest character is a woodworker (like my hubs)!
So, if you’re in the mood for a spring-themed novel, you might love Birding with Benefits by Sarah H. Dubb. (Just one warning: there are a couple of spicy scenes that go on for way too long, in my opinion, so maybe don’t share it with your teenager or grandmother unless you’ve read it first.)
Wherever you are this weekend, my friend, whatever is on your mind and filling up your to-do list, I hope you have some fun.
And if you have any gardening or seed-starting advice or questions or just want to chat, send me a message! I’d love to chat!
💛
Celeste
did AI write this? nope, this lady did ⤴ always💛