They say “the home is where your heart is”. In my small yet cozy home, I refer to one of the three bedrooms as the “garden room”. During certain special times of the year, the room becomes the focal point of gardening activity. Whether it’s starting seeds, transplanting, reviewing gardening books, or simply flipping through my seed collection (for the 12th time this week!), the room is green thumb headquarters. Here are some of the highlights:

Grow Light Shelves
A DIY lighting system I’ve set up is basically a 4-shelf plastic storage unit “modded” to support three light fixture sets. The fixtures are screwed to a wood support rack. Holes drilled into the posts of the shelf unit allow for raising and lowering of the lights. Two of the shelves have heat mats on them. All of the wiring is wound up in a sorta organized pile behind the storage unit. A timer controls the daily “sunlight”. Since putting a light on the top shelf is impractical, it is used for seeds, spray bottles, organic fertilizer, labels and other necessities.

Composting Operations
The garden room is home to two composting operations, my newly set up vermicompost bin, and my bokashi buckets. Hmmm…. 1000+ red wigglers right beside fermenting EM… sounds like a real composting party!

Soil Central
My seed starting mix and peat moss are stored in plastic tubs, ready for use. I also keep a tub filled with molasses in the room, but that’s used outside.

The Desk
During “off season” months, the desk is rather empty and lonely. However, during late Winter and early Spring, the desk is completely covered with transplants in their respective carrying boxes. For the last few weeks, I’ve watched a rather large empty yogurt container collection develop. I recycle where I can.

The Floor
This is where all of the dirty work happens. Putting a cloth barrier down over the carpet allows me to be as messy as I see fit.

Part of the joy of having a hobby like gardening is being in a place where you can surround yourself with it. If you have a garden room in your home, chime in on what makes it special.

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