A few years back, Dan bought me a compost bin for my birthday. It was a bit unconventional as far as gifts go, and I went totally gaga over it. Neither one of us is too particular about holiday gifts and years go by when one or the other of us misses a birthday or anniversary. Valentine’s Day doesn’t even make it on the radar.

But we did work on something together this past week for the farm that seems worth mentioning in honor of this day dedicated to spreading the warmth of love; a heating mat for seed germination. We borrowed the plans from The Vegetable Gardener. Dan did the carpentry, Cora and I ran the drill. The mat will help us raise the temperature of our coco as we start seeds for heat-loving plants like tomatoes and peppers. We’ll be testing it out this weekend on some marigold seeds. Stay tuned.