A most productive day...

Today, we woke up with a huge list hanging over our heads.  That's not a good feeling to have.  But, we loafed around for about an hour and waited for inspiration.  And, it came.  We got off our butts and the productivity began. 

First was a trip to town.  We went to Tractor Supply (nails and dogfood), Edgewater Greenhouse (a dahlia), Walmart (batteries), Culvers (two free scoops of ice-cream and a basketball), and the Library (too many books and two turkey books).  It only took us an hour!  That's including the time it took the kids to eat their ice-cream.

We got home and got right to work.  Alex read a book when I finished the six birdhouses. Tim already has them hung up!

Tim made me some awesome cold frames which I planted spinach in today.  We have two of them, so I was able to plant two different types of spinach today.

Mackenzie filled up pots and got them ready for my major transplanting project.  I was able to get my cabbage and my tomatillos transplanted tonight.

Though we started out the day feeling like we'd get nothing done today, we ended up being really productive.  Now to tackle those books about raising turkeys! It's one of my next projects.

My seedlings needed a boost...

.... in the form of light.

The natural light in our dining room wasn't cutting it. Tim and I had talked about building a greenhouse last year, but it wasn't meant to be. By the fall, I'm pretty sick and tired of the garden, anyway. Maybe in the future....

But, for now, Tim was able to make me a beautiful grow stand to give my seedlings the best possible start! Some of them got my artificial light a little too late, but most of them are loving the lights and thriving under them. Eight flats fit on this stand, and Tim will be making me two more shelves to fit sixteen flats total. I can also use the top for germinating flats.

To the left of the stand, I have a grow bag with lettuce starting and to the right, a single light with a single flat.

The stand is nothing too fancy. It's made out of reclaimed lumber that we salvaged from Tim's parents, and the only cost to us was the four lights ($10 each at Farm and Fleet) and the bulbs. I'm pretty excited to see my seedlings thriving! They are happy.

I have currant tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, four other varieties of tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, cilantro, dill, parsley, celery, tomatillos, and lettuce started. I also potted a Mojito Mint plant and some English Thyme in containers that will go outside.