In lieu of a greenhouse

At this time of year, all we are thinking about is starting seeds.

Since we still haven't built ourselves a greenhouse, we've rigged one up in honor of our days on the farm in Patagonia. We have a bed that gets full sun all day that we've been putting our winter's compost on. The decomposition in the 12-inch-layer of composting organic matter gives off some heat. Then we put our "seed trays" (salvaged milk and soda crates) on top of the warm earth and cover them with two layers of greenhouse plastic. We'll check the temperature for the next few days to see how cold or hot it gets in there - wanting close to 70 degrees during the day and not dropping below 50 at night. Now, Monday's task: sow hundreds of seeds.