This week’s highlight was finishing with the LED lights and heat pad, and moving most production outdoors to the portable greenhouse. The shelves are full with some 700 seedlings, waiting for trays to be planted in the ground before the pepper plants can find space to move from the dining room. It’s all good.
Mixed into this week’s schedule was making the garage space more usable. I ordered a heavy duty shelving unit—capacity 3,500 pounds— and put it up next to the long handled implement rack. This allowed me to clear surface space on the work bench, the work table, the radial arm saw and the long, narrow table I made that will serve as a garlic rack when the crop gets harvested in July. A political candidate stopped by with some campaign materials and we strategized over a calendar laid out on the trash bins. Every inch of garage space has better functionality now.
Most mornings I started by taking a cup of coffee to the garage and simply taking in fresh air, morning light, and considering the day’s potential. One thing leads to another, and soon I get productive with tasks to fill the day.
Work presents itself without much planning. Experience developed since I began lawn and garden work here in 1993 leads me without it. For example, to clear greenhouse space before the last frost date of May 10, the covered row goes in next. After that, clearing the tomato cages from last year’s spot and turning it over for spring planting. Garden tasks naturally queue and will continue until the whole garden is planted, hopefully by Memorial Day.
This week, I got cruciferous vegetables planted and broke down the tomato starts from channel trays into individual soil blocks. Over the weekend I tilled the covered row plot, making it ready for herbs, Asian greens, spinach and other perennial favorites. Along with this was the first lawn mowing, although this pass it was mostly to even it out. I did not collect clippings for mulch but will need more than the yard can produce.
Week three was valuable in all these ways. A gardener needs that as we move through this new season of hope.
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