As mentioned earlier, I set up a new growing station in the basement a few weeks ago to be ready for seed starting, with a 4′ grow light, two growing trays for 60 seeds and heating mats. I ordered a timer and a pack of 6 varieties of tomato seeds from Amazon this morning. I’m excited to get some seedlings going. The Farmer’s Almanac says I should be starting right now but that feels very early to me—especially when we’ve got two inches of snow on the ground. Asking Jen about this on our morning walk today, as we trudged over sections of new ice that had fallen overnight, she said something to the effect of, “duh, Bill, why do you think the plants at the store are so big in the spring when they go on sale?” Duh, indeed. So I guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.

In the greenhouse, the plan is to buy an inexpensive shelving unit for the back corner to free up the spare table, and move that over to the south side wall for more planting space. It’s pretty clear I need to prepare the containers better before planting, probably with some kind of fish-based fertilizer. Outside the greenhouse I’m going to go scorched-earth on the weeds out back and put in some kind of simple pavers to keep the ivy from returning, as well as build a new water barrel platform to replace the rickety one I’ve been using for 10 years.

Finally, I’ve got to find a mop on an extended handle that I can use to wash the plastic on the greenhouse; the oak tree overhead tends to drop a lot of sap, which collects dirt and cuts back on the amount of sunlight making its way inside.