If I want a garden this year, it’s time to make a plan and start some seeds. So, after checking on the garden and going for a walk, I went to work and finally got my pepper seeds, chili seeds, and tomato seeds started.

If I want a garden this year, it’s time to make a plan and start some seeds.

I checked on the garden on my way home from the dentist, and the garlic and onions are looking strong.

Grass was poking through in a few places, though. I’ll have to do some weeding soon. The beds I didn’t mulch in fall are more lawn than beds at the moment. I’ll figure that out very soon. Flowers, surviving crops, and weeds are everywhere. But not today. It’s late and I want a walk.

We walked past my favorite trees on the way. I love how they lean on each other. Pepper is fully recovered, and happily exploring again.

Thud… Thud… Thud… Thud… Thud…

A few weeks ago, when I went for a walk while sick with the flu, these two trees almost defeated me. Pepper would have preferred to go around but could not find another way. So, he did it, too.

I’d been eagerly waiting to start my seeds for the garden for months now. It’s finally time. I was in a good mood all morning!

Marving kneaded the bread dough while I cleaned the air fryer and took care of the dishes.

We quit Spotify a while back, and it took a while to get all our CDs digitized and a system figured out. But now, I could finally listen to my music. I love music and (bad) dancing.

While the bread was rising and the dishwasher noise-polluting the kitchen, I got started on seeds. I’d gotten some gardening supplies for my birthday and Christmas. This tray looked most promising.

The plan for the day was to start the peppers and tomatoes. I’ll need to start more soon, but wanted an easy start. Thinking about all the things I need to do stresses me out, so I try my best not to overwhelm my brain.

So, I set out to start some peppers and chili. Okay, a lot of peppers and chili.

I double-seeded everything, so two seeds per pod. We’ll see how many plants I get. I have pots to move them to until they are ready to go into the garden beds.

After filling the rest of the tray with some tomatoes, I plugged in the grow lights. Hopefully, they seedlings will be happy here in my room. Last year, we’d started the seeds in the living room but that’s not an option this time around.

I moved my books away from the water I’ll sure spill here. I’lll have to find a different spot for the books I wrote. We have these grow lamps in most rooms by now. Winters here are too dark for most plants.

I am not yet convinced by this watering bulb thing. It was part of my gifts, but it feels inefficient. I will probably switch to my spray bottle and pass this on to someone else. But it worked. The seeds were in. Everything was labeled. Now, I have to wait.

I’d been staring at two unhappy plants for weeks now. One was slowly recovering. As the plant seemed to want to stand on their own again, I removed the thread I’d added. Yeah, not pretty. But they are getting better.

I could not say the same for the second one. This one was all the way dead including a rotten stem.

This one will join the ginormous pile of soil and compost on my balcony. I’ll have to carry all of this to the garden. Speaking of the garden: A sunny afternoon in the garden brought a lot of progress. More on that next time.

So long, and thanks for being here.