( Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash )

I’ve been obsessed with greenhouses lately.

Because of our current yard regrading situation, it’s been impossible to build/plant anything on our property this year.  I was hesitant to even do a garden this year because I have no idea if it’s going to be in the way of the regrading.

But…next year, I want a greenhouse!  I really just want a permanent designated area for the garden.  I want to be able to purchase perennial plants & not have to worry about digging them up again.  I think a little greenhouse would be so cute though!

After seeing Liz Marie’s greenhouse & plant setup, I know that’s along the lines of what I want to do as well.  And because I have almost a year to plan this entire thing out, I even made a Pinterest board dedicated to everything greenhouses!

I can’t wait to actually use our yard next year!

The Big Reveal

Hey, Besties! I've been buzzing with excitement to give you a peek into my garden – it's like a little slice of paradise right in my backyard. Editing these photos felt like an eternity (I might've gone a tad overboard with the camera 📸). Still, I've finally narrowed it down to share with you!

Garden Expansion

This year, I went all out and expanded my garden using railroad ties – talk about a major upgrade! More space meant more green babies to tend to.

Plant Selection

I've got a soft spot for my local greenhouse; they're my go-to for plants. Starting from seeds? Maybe next year (fingers crossed!). For now, I'm all about those robust, ready-to-thrive plants.

Classic Choices

I kept it classic with tomatoes and peppers – they were superstars last year, and I'm all for a repeat performance. Plus, let's be real, my veggie palate isn't the most adventurous. But I did sneak in some squash (yellow & zucchini) for my hubby – he's the king of frying them up, and I might give them a whirl in the instant pot!

Tomato Varieties

Tomato-wise, I mixed it up a bit. I aimed for last year's champs but ended up with a different variety from the greenhouse. And then there's the San Marzano – a recommendation from my aunt that had me rushing back for more. Trust the family wisdom, right?

Pepper Picks

Peppers were a bit of a green blur – I'm not their number one fan, so I wasn't too picky. But hey, variety is the spice of life, or so they say!

The Wild Card

And then there was this little patch left – a garden's equivalent of "what's behind door number three?" My husband threw in the idea of planting green beans from last year's seed stash. It's a bit of a wild card, but guess what? They're thriving like it's their garden party!

Harvest Dreams

I'm already daydreaming about homemade tomato sauces and stuffed peppers. With this garden's size, I'll be a canning and cooking machine come fall. Bring on the harvest!

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for more of Tiff's Garden Chronicles – it will be a delicious ride! 🍅🌶️👩‍🌾 

Aaand this is the story of how we bought a lilac plant out of the back of someone’s truck!

We’re in the middle of regrading our yard, so this year we decided to take it easy on planting.  I honestly can’t wait until this project is finished because I want to plant all.the.things.  I’m thinking blueberries, strawberries & a huge garden! I’m the most impatient person ever, so having to scale it all back this year is really getting to me!

One of the things that I wanted to plant are lilacs.  We have a huge white lilac in the front yard & I love when it comes into bloom, even though it lasts approximately 2 days a year!  It just smells so fantastic!

My husband & I were at a thrift store & when we were coming back to the car, we noticed the truck beside us was absolutely filled with plants, including fairly decent sized lilacs.  We’d never seen lilacs that were already large like that.  As we were getting ready to leave, the owner of the truck came out to leave too.  My husband decided to ask her where she bought the plants for future reference, because we didn’t really have a space in the yard for it this year.  It just so happened that she was selling the plants in a fundraiser the next day & had purchased them from a private nursery.  She offered to sell us the lilac & after going back & forth, we decided to buy it.  It was one of those impulse things that we knew we wanted it but weren’t sure where to plant it.  Luckily, we found a spot that should be safe from the yard construction!  The woman in the truck told us the lilac is a smaller variety, so it shouldn’t take over our entire yard, either!

Happy Friday!  I’m going to warn you…my next few posts will be all about plants!  I still have to show you what I planted in my garden & how those little plants are already growing & like a million other planting things!  For someone who really didn’t get into gardening until last year, I’m surprised I have so much to talk about!

Today, I’m starting with the flowers!  While I was picking out my vegetable plants are the local greenhouse, I decided to get some flowers as well.

I might have went a little overboard!  I usually just plant my flowers in old sap buckets & place them around the yard, but I actually had to plant a few of them in the ground this time! 

I also threw some sunflower seeds into the ground & I was super surprised to see those thriving as well!

Here’s hoping they survive until fall!

Last week, I noticed that someone found my loft railing post from a Google search.  I decided to take a trip down memory lane & reread the post.  It was then that I realized I never actually shared where we purchased our railing!  How embarrassing is that?!  These people are trying to find this awesome railing & I left them hanging!

I’m fixing that today!

The railing is an outdoor kit from The Home Depot.  Our local Home Depot only sold the rail kit, so we had to travel to find the stair railing.  We could have just purchased everything online, but my husband likes to see what he’s buying in person.  After this home renovation, I don’t blame him.  There are so many ways things can be damaged so it’s best to just pick it out yourself.

So why did we decide to use outdoor materials for the stairs?  Honestly, for me, it was the cost.  I started pricing indoor stair railings & then I went over to their outdoor counterparts.  They were so much cheaper!  I also thought that since our house is kind of funky anyway, we could get away with using outdoor materials.  The actual staircase uses the interior tread so it’s a mix of interior & pressure treated materials.  The plan was to stain or paint the posts, but I liked them the way they were.  In the future, we could totally paint or stain them though.

I know this setup won’t work in every house, but I think it looks pretty cool in mine.  Even though these are outdoor kits, it’s so weird to actually see these one someone’s outdoor porch!