Greenhouses and Gardens

I'm sure we all get so far behind that we feel there's no way of catching up.  That's pretty much where I'm at right now. 
I haven't posted in forever which would be fine, if I'd spent the time doing things worth posting about now.  That way I could regale you with grand tales of my craftiness.  That, however, is not the case.  I have done nothing blog worthy save for the last two, maybe three, days.   Of course I'm not going to share them all at once so today you get my garden and greenhouse efforts.

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This year we're hoping to build a couple of 8x8 garden boxes in the back (south facing) yard.  Last year I tried to grow some tomatoes and cucumbers on the northwest side of the house and it just didn't work, not enough sun and too many slugs, snails and grasshoppers.  In the back yard they'll have full sun and the chickens will be my pest control (and fertilizer) for an organic harvest. So in the spirit of The Garden of Dreams "If you grow it you can build it"  I am starting my seeds for my garden. 

 In seventh grade my daughter learned how to make self contained bio spheres by recycling two 2 liter soda bottles, a small amount of gravel and potting soil, a splash of pond water (fish tank in our case) and some packaging tape.  They used them to grow pothos but I decided to use the same plan for some mini greenhouses to start some seeds.  For the record we don't consume mass amounts of soda, I've been saving the bottles  for several months. The one on the left is the original plan, the two others are modifications due to a bottle shape issue.  Sorry dearest, your favorite soda is out, we can only get the other kind until I have enough bottles to plant my peppers. 

This is more of a test  and we'll see if it actually works.  My mom used to start seeds in trays and I thought this is the same concept only again, re-using something that would have otherwise ended up in the garbage.  This came from the bakery dept of our grocer,  I filled it with soil, did several rows of seeds, added some water and sealed it up with some packaging tape.  These are the majority of my tomatoes so I hope it works!

I ordered this from CSN for less than $40 and shipping was free.  I put it together this evening and it was so easy peasy to assemble.    I do wish that the grid of the shelving was finer, my bottle greenhouses what to tip over. 

I would certainly put it in a protected space though, it's not sturdy in any way.  I like it though, I went to unzip it to put things on the shelves and there was a definite temperature change just within a few minutes. 

My sweetie bought me this because I am a sucker for all things tea (and coffee) related.  He knows me so well. :)  So while we were playing in the dirt I re-potted a couple of my house plants. 

I need a couple new pots to I can re-pot my jade plants but here's my mostly happy houseplants over my kitchen sink.  My kitchen grotesque in the center watches over things for me. 

Well that' it for this post, next I'll have some sewing to talk about.