Often we can accept what is, or put forth the effort to make it "what it should be," as seen by our minds' eye. That in itself can be remarkably different.
As I began writing this, I spoke of what we often expect and what sometimes occurs. This is what I awoke to on April 2nd, 2010, a completely "unexpected" snowfall that accumulated to 3 inches! By noon, it was all but gone... Then, we were hit by the predicted windstorm, with it a lot of rain and hail.
When I initially studied my little greenhouse, now completed, or so I thought...I began to ponder its shortcomings. The panels needed secured after properly being installed, the entire structure needed reinforcement, and I knew I couldn't utilize the space as much as I had hoped. Hence, began the effort towards making it more like it should be, to fulfill its purpose as I saw it. Little did I know, how hard that work would be! I envisioned the interior floor a few feet lower than the current dirt floor. Then, I mentally placed three raised beds, sunk down, to give me that extra planting space. That gaps were filled with pea gravel (I could set a lot of pots behind the beds the entire twenty-six feet around the interior).
That hard work began, with a pick, a shovel, and a hoe. There was an amazing accumulation of rocks in no time, but it wasn't progressing quickly enough for me. After a few days, I was close to finishing, but my back was already finished (the pick...). So, while that was healing, I focused on getting the beds installed. One was an old skylight frame built of Fir (my center back bed). The other two were built by Larry, the 84yr young retired Logger from up the road. They were installed on either side, which left an isle from front to back. I dug that out a few more inches, and had to quit once again. Realizing my back wouldn't heal enough to keep using that pick, I had to stop. The focus turned away from that chore, for a time.
After filling the beds with soil, and also shoveling in the pea gravel all around them, I surveyed my work. Then, I stepped outside to look around my little greenhouse. I realized that the extra time that it was going to take was beneficial to the end result! It was time to start using it and worry about finishing the isle and the area outside the greenhouse LATER. Len installed two long shelves on the N long side, one long shelf on the S side (for taller plants), then built me a corner unit that connects to the two long shelves. After he was done with those, he continued to work on the van repairs. I now focused on how I was going to initially use it...
I planted Gourmet Lettuce Mix, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Parris Lettuce in the two long side beds. I planted four different types of tomatoes, Genovese Basil, and Purple Basil in the center back bed. I began propagating Lady's Mantle, starting with just nine. Then, moved efforts to propagating Chocolate Mint, now have over one hundred! There are now a dozen Comfrey plants, a dozen young Hellebores (seedlings I was given), six Pineapple Sage plants, four Wormwood plants, and six Italian Sage plants started from cuttings. While I was enjoying all this greenhouse work, my seed orders began arriving.
As each day passes, I look for the beauty in everything. That little greenhouse has its purposes, but a new one has sprung up. This morning, I was suddenly aware of just how quickly everything was growing. Outside it was cold, but in there it was warm. I stood peacefully meditating on just how miraculous life is, all of God's creation. After caring for all my plants, I left feeling very calm, and then a feeling of anticipation.
Tomorrow, I will be filling pots and planting many seeds!
You can see in the above picture how the isle is still dirt. Eventually this will be deeper, lined with wood on both sides, and layered with a few inches of pea gravel. There will be shelving across the front, connecting to the corner on the left, meeting the other corner (which will be on the right), and that will be continuous with the shelf on the right side of the greenhouse. There will be smaller shelving installed throughout the greenhouse, where it can best be utilized. I am very glad I didn't rush this!
This is one of the Lady's Mantle plants.
Here are some of the Chocolate Mints I propagated.
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