After years of fruitless lusting and hopeless pining, this little 6x8 beauty arrived in the mail the first of March. Just in time to start the tomatoes and peppers. They were planted on the 6th and began popping up on the 11th. The tomatoes, that is. Peppers like to keep you waiting, they took nine days to start showing.
The pepper flat is the one in the middle, obviously..
All of these will be potted up into 4 inch pots in about two weeks, after which they will be moved to their final home in the kitchen garden.

I have big plans for expansion this year, since we have just 144 square feet of raised beds and about the same amount of space in in-ground beds. My goal is to double that, which will be no mean feat considering the size of our lot and the availability of sun. I'll be adding more in-ground beds to this area, right about where I'm standing to take the picture. I won't go to the expense of raised beds since that entire corner is fully shaded in the winter by the shadow of the neighbor's house. It can only be used for summer crops so I don't need a permanent bed structure. Speaking of summer crops, the placement of the greenhouse on the other side of the property will be instrumental to the creation of another garden area. Thanks to the Jack Russell and our little flock of egg-laying marauders, any garden area has to be fenced for protection. If we run some low wire fencing from the corner of the greenhouse to the house, I'll be able to convert this unused area on the north side of the house into another planting area for summer crops. This is in full blazing sun all summer, conveniently located right by the back door, and I'll have a lovely view of it from the window over the kitchen sink. Perfect.
Pictures to follow!