Benched

Finally, time to post! I've been hard at work last weekend and this one, finishing up the project my terrific husband started earlier in the month. What project, you ask? Only one that's been on his to-do list since September, when he received as a gift funds toward a woodworking project  He promptly purchased the supplies he needed to make a workbench as directed on this website, which he planned to modify for use as a potting bench. Of course, no sooner did he plan to get started then he found a job. This was of course fantastic news, and it's a great job that he likes very much, but all the free time during the week he had planned to devote to woodworking vanished rather quickly.

This was all well and good, but we realized recently that the time was approaching to start seeds indoors if we wanted to be able to transplant them at the proper time this spring. This meant that he had to get started, and soon.  So he did.

It took him a little bit of time to make all the cuts, and a few hours here and there for assembly. His mother (best mother-in-law ever!) stopped by last weekend and lent a hand with assembly as well. Over the course of the past week, I have put 2-3 coats of waterproofing onto the surfaces of the bench that we think could potentially get wet, sanding in between each coat. I hope to never have to use that stuff again; the fumes were terrible and I was very nearly sick. Serves me right for trying to apply the first coat at night in a poorly-lit room such that it took ages, but I was excited and wanted to start right away. The first coat took five days to dry, but I brought in the space heater for the other two so as to keep the room above 50 degrees, and was able to finish the other two coats this weekend. It is not perfect, but it'll get the job done.

There were many photos taken during the building and assembly processes, but I unfortunately cannot post them because the hubby is away on business and he took the camera with him. My fault for not uploading them before he left. I do, however, have photos of the finished product, complete with artwork that I framed this weekend and installed on either side of the bench using brick hangers.

The end result? See for yourself:

Ta-daa! Not bad for amateurs, eh?

(L): The kale and asparagus posters were a lovely gift from my sister-in-law,
who obtained them through her employer, Island-Grown Schools, on Martha's Vineyard.
The posters were designed by Hayes Design Studios and illustrated by Ashley Chase.

(R): The blue poster is a woodblock print of The Mountain School in Vershire, VT.
My husband spent a semester studying there in high school. The original frame was trashed,
and it was too important to let languish.  The artist is Sabra Field.

 Atop the bench are glass jars to be used for canning.

With the grow lights installed. We have two shelves
for starting seedlings and for growing greens,
and the bottom level for storage.

With the top grow light on to show the difference.

So that's that. Now I'm just waiting on peat pellets for the seed trays so that we can start growing things!