Guest Post by Lisa Houle.

I love plants. All plants, especially flowers. And even more especially, plants that produce the wonderful gifts of bounty in my garden. Like my grandparents, I usually break out the potting soil and seeds in the dead of winter, to begin the coaxing of spring. And I, much like my grandparents were, a little overzealous in the application of how many seeds I start growing.

Every year, I begin my tomato plants right from seed. And every year, without fail, I end up swearing that I’ll never plant that many again, because I didn’t need that many to begin with and they’ve taken over the entire house by the beginning of April. We generally end up with no room to sit in our living room, and our kitchen table usually becomes strewn with lanky, tall, delicate tomato and other assorted plants, just waiting to be transplanted when the weather is warm enough.

The most intriguing part of my day revolves around these little sprouts. Seeing what’s popped up overnight and what decided to grow throughout the day. It’s exciting, especially when growing things I’ve never grown before. I know, it’s probably like watching paint dry for many folks, but for me, it’s always been a wonder.

Last summer, I decided to spend less time worrying about the plants, and more time with my sister. Having family gatherings here is difficult as it is because our home isn’t very big and having all of those plants around, makes it that much smaller. I did go to the greenhouse, hoping to have a better yield in addition to the spare time because my plants never seemed to turn out the vast amounts my grandparents did. Sadly, the greenhouse plants fared no better.

This year, I’ve decided to start them earlier than I have in the past in the hopes that my plants will be nice and hardy instead of the usual 18 inch whippy twigs I produce. I’m already starting to putter out on the watering, but the vast majority of my plants are up already and that’s what’s keeping me going. Spring should hopefully be here soon, and with it, gardening season. After being cooped up for so many months, I’m looking forward to it.