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Typically this time of year my kitchen table is home to many tiny vegetable seeds under a grow light, but this year I got a late start. I decided to direct sow most of my plants this year instead. Although we have had some sunny days here and there in Eugene, the temperatures have stayed pretty cold and nothing has grown a whole lot.

This weekend I got fed up and decided to just buy an “instant” garden. I dropped $30 bucks at my favorite local garden store and came home with kale, chard, lettuce, arugula, peas, cabbage, asian greens and the like. I spent a couple hours in the rain transplanting everything to its new home.

It makes me feel like cheating to buy transplants when I have all these cool seeds at home and a grow light. Between school and some large writing projects, I decided to make it a little easier on myself by taking some shortcuts. I now have one less thing to worry about as all my little plants begin to grow in with a healthy start.

The next task is covering them all with a large sheet of plastic, weighted down on the ends with some bricks to keep it from the wind blowing it off. That will create a temporary green house that warms the plants and soil, helping them grow in faster. My goal is to have dinner ready in the backyard in about 2-3 weeks.

Despite my plans to spend the summer in New York City, I still can’t help wanting to have a beautiful garden at my temporary home here. The future tenants will surely enjoy the bounty this summer.