When my now ex would occasionally get into a down mood, I'd look around and find a project for him. I had him build shelves in the kitchen according to my design, I had shelves built under the sink, shelves in the garage, you get the idea. Maybe you need to give Pete an assignment and design the shelve, on which all of that gardening stuff can be store out in the mud room. Do you have a space or a section of wall where such a thing could go up? It sure sounds like the kitchen space should be used for canned goods and things that don't benefit from storage in unheated spaces.

Nowadays when I want shelves I have to build them myself. I do find they put me in a good mood when they're in place and in use!

SRS