Hanover Park gardener cultivates community with little free sharing greenhouse

Kelly Bauer spreads joy one seedling at a time.

For the Hanover Park gardening enthusiast, cultivating seedlings is about nurturing hope. Making those seedlings available for free in a neighborhood greenhouse is about building community, which Bauer helps nourish through The Little Blue Greenhouse outside her home on the 8100 block of Northway Drive.

“When the world seems crazy, when we feel like we have little control, planting a seed is to believe in the future,” Bauer writes. “Sharing with others is to remember that we are all in this together. In a time when it feels like the world is building fences, The Little Blue Greenhouse is my way of tearing them down.”

The greenhouse operates like a little free library, with visitors dropping off plants, bulbs, seeds or cuttings and taking one in exchange (although leaving a plant is not required). For Bauer — a wife, mother and freelance writer — it’s a way of spreading “sidewalk joy,” a phrase coined by an artist, who established toy dinosaur and mug exchanges in her Portland, Oregon, community.

A self-described hobbyist, Bauer cultivated her first 8-foot-by-4-foot vegetable garden with her kids 10 years ago in the family's backyard.

Her interest blossomed as “ongoing experiments” with house plants yielded propagations she shared with family and friends.

Bauer says she’s no gardening maven, joking “I have a great relationship with failure.”

It turns out, she had a bit of a green thumb after all.

Determined to share her bounty, she searched online and discovered the Little Free Greenhouse located outside St. Louis in Florissant, Missouri. Undeterred by her lack of carpentry skills, she built her own mini-greenhouse in her front yard.

“What I lack of technical skill I make up for in gumption,” she said, laughing.

The Little Blue Greenhouse opened in spring 2024 to share plants, seeds, seedlings, bulbs and cuttings.

Bauer had no expectations when she announced the greenhouse last year on social media. Five or six people stopped by the first day, but the numbers grew. During gardening season, several dozen people may stop by over a weekend to pick up and drop off items.

“It really became self-sustaining,” said Bauer, who rarely has room for her own plants in the greenhouse, which operates from early March through early November.

It isn't climate controlled, but an app for the Bluetooth thermometer Bauer installed alerts her to temperature fluctuations. When the temperature dips, she brings the plants inside for a “sleepover.”

“I'm a foster mom for all the plants in the greenhouse,” said Bauer. whose plant-related chores have increased significantly since she became caretaker.

Available plants typically turn over every few days. Options vary.

“We get such an incredible mix, so many plants I've never heard of,” she said. They include spoon tomatoes, which are “more flavorful tomatoes than you ever had in your life.”

Vegetable plants dominate during the spring. After June, offerings include mostly house plants. And in the fall, gardeners share seeds they collected and dried.

Donors don't have to include instructions with seedlings, but Bauer asks they label donations with supplies she provides.

Some items, such as raspberry runners, go quickly, but Bauer accepts almost any type of plant.

“I ask people not bring anything that has a known pest issue,” she said, reminding hobbyists to always “quarantine” new plants.

Experts and neophytes alike frequent the greenhouse. One teen claimed it sparked her interest in houseplants. Bauer says she enjoys watching parents and children sort through packets to decide which they’ll plant.

If The Little Blue Greenhouse inspires future gardeners or encourages people to reconnect with nature and each other, it will have served its purpose, Bauer said.

“When the world seems like it's pushing people apart,” she added, “the greenhouse is a way of digging my heels in and holding people together.”

· For more information, follow The Little Blue Greenhouse on Instagram @thelittlebluegreenhouse.