March 6th, 2008

I was one of those kids that needed to know how things worked. It wasn’t enough to know they did work, I had to know why they worked. It is no surprise then that when I first became interested in gardening, it was not enough for me to just purchase box plants at the greenhouse, put them in the ground and water them. I had to know how those plants got to the stage where they were ready for planting out. I began reading anything and everything that even hinted at growing plants from seed. Reading led to a hobby greenhouse in the back garden and larger gardens. Which led to horticulture courses so I could learn to push the gardening envelope to the max. Eventually, that led to full time careers in horticulture and landscaping.

Thirty years later and my enthusiasm for gardening, has not waned. I still get a thrill when the first seeds germinate, and cuttings taken from mature plants, take root. When I putter in the gardens, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I look at a flower in bloom, and remember that I started that flower from seed. Or my eye rest on a shrub and I realize that shrub started in my greenhouse as a small cutting.

Because so many of our plants began in our greenhouse, they have become a living diary of our gardening journey on this tiny plot of land we own. They are a reminder of my gardening mood the year those particular seeds were selected: Victorian, Urban, Country, Zen. They also bring back memories of past growing seasons, some good, some not.

There was the year the power went out during a late spring snow storm. We scrambled to set up folding tables in the kitchen and dining room to set all the flats of seedlings (23) on. For two days, getting to the fridge or into the cupboards, meant moving a table with ten flats on it.

One year, the cover of the greenhouse ripped, and risking our own safety, we struggled to tape the rip together, perched on ladders, in a blustery wind, to save the flats of seedlings growing inside the greenhouse.

There were funny moments too; Losing a boot and my balance, in a mud puddle while attempting to close the ventilation flaps on the outside of the greenhouse. Opening a bale of potting mix only to end up wearing and/or eating a goodly portion of it. Neighbourhood cats hopping on the benches and chowing down on the catnip transplants.

The 2008 growing season has begun. It is on a much smaller scale this year. The enthusiasm is still present, but lack of time has forced a cut back on production. Instead of starting several hundred plants, I’ll only grow a few hundred.

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