Sprouts

Every year I think I am going to grow my own food. I imagine myself tending my garden and picking fresh veg to use for rustic dinners that I just throw together with friends on warm summer evenings, soul warmed with good company and good wine, while the lightening bugs dance and the children play.  Ahh, nice eh?

Last year the closest thing I had to it was five volunteer pumpkin plants which grew like they were from the little shop of horrors circa the jurassic period and killed everything in their wake, except one deranged cucumber plant and a confused cherry tomato bush that couldn't quite decide of it was alive or dead.

I had one night of friends over around a bonfire, until I ran out of wood and had to scramble to tear up some sticks, getting splinters in my hands which needed professional removal the next day. Then it started raining and I got violently ill from a beerita... I swear it was the gluten and not the bottle of wine I drank... Yeah, pretty sure it was the gluten. 

The cucumbers were good though.

This year, Little L and I decided to get a head start on our garden and sprout some seeds instead of planting them randomly and then going out and buying plants because the seeds we planted   never sprouted and/or got eaten by a mammoth pumpkin vine.  We have a stash of seeds, and since we don't want to spend any money right now (long story) I had to figure out a way to make my own greenhouse with materials on hand.  

Last year, Little L brought home a ziplock baggie with a plant in it that they had sprouted with just a wet paper towel in her nursery school class.  She didn't know what kind of plant it was, and the teacher didn't send home and instructions, so we just set it in the window sill and watched it grow.  2.5 feet later, Little L said, "Oh yeah! It's a popcorn plant!"  It was too late to transplant that seedling, but the method might just work again.

So, here is our DIY sprout house. I hope it works!  If not, I'll see ya at Pike's nursery in May!