a day in the life of a latvian mom

This post will be a bit longer. I have a greenhouse that I absolutely hate…

A little while ago, I stopped watering it and removed almost all the tomato plants. Usually, I do this in spring (yes, I know!), but this year I was smart enough to collect the last tomatoes before cleaning everything out. Even the green ones. No tomato left behind!

And I was ready to say goodbye to this greenhouse for the winter.

You see, this greenhouse has problems. Lots of them.

First, I can’t clean it properly. It looks terrible, and every winter it seems to become a luxury hotel for rats, mice, and whatever else decides to move in. Then, in spring, the baby snakes arrive and eat them all. Sorry, not sorry. 😂

Then there is the entrance. The ground slopes down, and it gets slippery, which makes the whole thing a bit of an adventure, especially when it’s wet.

But the absolute worst part?

The Aličas (Prunus cerasifera)

For those who don’t know, aličas are these little yellow plums that taste terrible and are good for absolutely nothing. At least, that’s my very strong opinion! 😅

But I checked, and it turns out that the pits can be used to make very good oil! So, all this time, Latvians have been gathering these fruits and trying to eat them, while the actually useful part is the pit! 😂 Isn’t that funny?

Back to greenhouse…

When we built the greenhouse, the old Aliča trees were about 10 metres away. Ten metres! Surely, that was far enough?

Apparently not.

Their roots have decided that my greenhouse is the perfect place to send up new shoots. I pull them out, and a few more appear. I remove those, and more come back. It’s an endless battle, and I am losing.

Honestly, I was ready to surrender. I thought I would simply leave the greenhouse empty next year. No tomatoes, no work, no fighting with Aličas. Just an empty greenhouse that I could pretend didn’t exist.

And then…

Wait a minute, Ilze. Where is the falling in love with the greenhouse part?

Here it comes!

I walked into the greenhouse, and suddenly I stopped.

It was FULL of blooming marigolds!

Outside, the frost had already arrived. All my other flowers were finished for the season, and I had been busy removing everything from the garden before winter took over.

And here, in this old, ugly, troublesome greenhouse, summer was still going on.

Oh, wow! ❤️

I stood there looking at all those flowers and buzzing insects, and I realised that perhaps this greenhouse isn’t quite as terrible as I thought.

Maybe I don’t hate it after all?

Okay, let’s not get carried away. The Aličas are still a problem, and I’m definitely not looking forward to the slippery entrance or the spring cleaning. 😂

But the flowers? The flowers have won me over.

I even brought a few marigolds indoors so I could enjoy them a little longer.

Maybe next year I’ll leave the greenhouse alone and let nature do its thing. Or maybe I’ll change my mind in spring and start planting tomatoes again. Knowing me, both options are entirely possible!

For now, I’m just happy that I discovered this little pocket of autumn magic before winter arrives.

Have you ever discovered something beautiful in a place you had almost given up on?

Ilze