True confession time!  My life has been a bit crazy and stressful for the last few years and growing a garden was just not part of the plan.  Sometimes we have to pivot and change when life throws us curveballs don’t we?

I haven’t liked the idea of being unprepared for an emergency.  I have missed canning and knowing that I could feed my family no matter what because my shelves were filled with my own canned goods.

I was inspired by a friend of mine in New York!   I have never met Herrick and Marlene in person but have known them for some time. He’s an amazing inventor and writer – I encourage you to visit his blog. He wrote about a new kind of gardening he is trying and we are going to do the same this year – you’ll see more about that in another post coming soon.

This inspired me to get busy in the green house starting some seed. Oh dear!  I found so many things in dis-repair.  My little happy place had become very sad indeed.  It was filled with cardboard – our plan to fight the Bermuda Grass that has taken over our garden area. The 20 year old doors were in poor shape, the screen along the sides needed to be replaced…so much to do. But, we were determined to spend a day (or three!) cleaning it up!  What’s the first course of action? Move the temporary fence so the cattle can clean up the grass and weeds so you can get in the door!

Greenhouse Disaster! The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Irish Dexter Cattle

Once inside – oh my the mess! Virginia Creeper and other weeds had taken over on the right side.  Cardboard was everywhere. The used doors we had installed over 20 years ago were shot.  Pots and flats were scattered everywhere! But we were determined to do this!

Greenhouse Disaster! The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Years of neglect

We got busy moving out all the trash, pulling weeds and “uninstalling” all the cardboard!  Elijah and I worked a good part of the day – it wasn’t hard…well…except for that Virginia Creeper – that stuff is tenacious! But, since this is an organic farm we just pulled it all and put it on the fire we built for the cardboard.

Greenhouse Disaster! The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Although we found a huge mess (The Bad) – we also found some hidden treasures (The Good)!  Evidently a praying mantis or two found its way into the greenhouse to lay some egg cases on the Virginia Creeper.

Greenhouse Disaster! The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Praying Mantis Egg Case

Under a piece of cardboard against an end wall we found a nest…

Greenhouse Disaster! The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Hidden nest!

They hadn’t been there long…I float tested those eggs and everyone of them was fine! By the end of the day most of the cardboard was gone, the benches were repaired, new doors ordered so we can keep the chickens out and new screen ordered for the side walls to keep cats, coons, possums, chickens and wasps and other bugs out! { Hhmmm….Why do the wasps like my greenhouse so much she wonders!}

Greenhouse Disaster! The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

There’s a bit left to do in this picture – I’ll post an updated one soon – all the flats and pots have been sorted, some given away and some tossed.  The “Ugly” part – well…I was moving to fast to take a picture when we found the lizards, spiders and skinks…oh my!

Next job? Mixing our potting soil so we can get some seeds planted – but I will save that for another post and I’ll share my recipe then for that potting mix! SO much cheaper that store bought!

Happy planting!