Since she was a little girl, Joni Hladun has enjoyed growing plants, both indoors and out.
She remembers growing bean seeds in glass jars. It’s the type of project she works on to this day, though on quite a different scale.
Every spring, the Hladun house is filled with racks of seeds, cuddled by heating pads and illuminated by florescent lights. The dining room is completely filled with the contraptions, constructed on sets of metal racking.
You can’t argue with the results. Hladun has a luscious garden out front, enjoyed by passersby and birds, an oasis in the City of P.A.
“It’s all for fun,” Hladun says about her passion for gardening. “I get to plant, to look at pretty flowers and to go to garage sales to pick up little items for the yard.”
This particular setup has been installed in her home each spring for the last six years. Once the plants get big enough, they’re moved outside, and the lights and heating pads stored until the next year.
The makeshift greenhouse lets Hladun save money, choose the plants she wants, and helps extend a short growing season.
For more on this story, please see the May 24 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald
