An Architectural Metamorphosis

When we first shared pictures of the farm with friends and family, we enjoyed calling it "The Living Room"--just to get a smile...

Planting Room Interior
June 2010

...but all along we had plans for the derelict room.  Fondly referred to as the Planting Room, the east end of the chicken coop has been set aside as a place for Kathy to start plants for our garden.  
Back in our Brookfield days, Kathy would start the year's seedlings on a workbench in the basement of our home.  Having, at most, six flats of seedlings coming along at any given time, the set up worked well.  But now that we have increased our scale to, depending how you look at it, a large family garden or a small market garden, it was time to move out of the basement and into a building dedicated to the task of fostering baby plants.

  

Planting Room Exterior
June 2010

The work in the Planting Room began last fall when Dad replaced the rotting, broken windows with new ones.  

A Work in Process
July 2011

Then Robin and the boys did exterior work--removing the old, warped siding boards, replacing rotten wall studs, and putting up insulation and plywood.  With the craftsmanship of barn-restoration specialist, Matt Rateau, the building was transformed into this...

Planting Room Exterior
April 2012

This spring, Dad took over once again and patched the sorry plaster walls and ceiling, giving it all a cheery coat of fresh paint.  With electrical work completed by Raphael, the room was ready. 

Planting Room Interior
April 2012

Then it was Kathy's turn.  Working on our old schedule for starting seeds, first came tiny seedlings of white onions.  Next came the tiniest sprouts of parsley, celery, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.

So, with contributions from all of us, the previously unusable room has been turned into something productive--tiny steps towards our first garden at Morning Star Family Farm.