Hopefully

“To plant a seed is a hopeful deed.”
– unknown gardener

It didn’t take more than a week, living with the new enormous south-facing window in the master bedroom, to realize that what I had was not a large sunny window seat but the perfect seed-starting greenhouse. I planted some seeds in early April — from the giant squash we bought and carved last fall, short-season watermelon and cantaloupe and tomatoes, cucumbers (an Italian variety that seems quite vigorous), zucchini (because you can’t have zucchini too soon), as well as purple zinnia, morning glories, and sunflower (you can’t have those blooming too soon either).

Here are a few shots, from which you can see that we still have to sand the drywall and do some painting; you can also see one of the raised bed gardens outside, where not much is growing yet. I suggested to Tom, shortly after I had the greenhouse idea, that we put off the finishing til after the seedlings move outdoors. I also suggested that I’d have more room for plants with a shelf, and instead of laughing or leaving the room, my husband the carpenter suggested a free-standing unit with a couple of shelves. Which is why I love the man.

A very fast growing giant squash seedling,

which makes me wonder if I’m going to wake up one morning with tendrils tickling my face.

I went back to the greenhouse in town yesterday, to show Tom some of the new University of Saskatchewan cherries, and we ended up buying three young shrubs, two Cupids and one Juliet, along with some annuals to put in one container together — a new variety of geranium called “Graffiti”, with jagged, pointed petals, sweet potato vine, and dark purple Angelonia angustifolia (summer snapdragon).