Spring is still playing tug-o-war with the remnants of winter here. But the occasional warmer days have me preparing for warmer days to come soon. I clean up our balcony, drive off more trash from the overgrown plot, and make very simple grilled-cheese sandwiches.

Debris from the roof falls onto our balcony. Over winter, this has built up.

I’ve also been meaning to take down these useless planters since last fall. But they were a favorite with the playful birds, so they stayed over winter. Now that the birds have alternatives everywhere, they need to go.

When I’d gotten the tulips, I’d only cleaned up as much as was needed. Now it was time to ready the planters for spring. I even planted some radishes in one of them. Chives are regrowing in some of the pots. I’ll leave them for now.

Indoors, two of my plants needed a new home. I don’t have the perfect inner pot but it’s okay. This plant has almost died more times than I can count. Hopefully, they’ll do better with room to spread. Both of these plants were gifts from friends, so I am determined not to kill them.

I love all kinds of plants. Indoor and outdoor. But I definitely don’t (yet) have a green thumb. I am a permaculture person. Indoors, the helpful critters are missing.

I’ll add some beneficials later. First, I need to drive to town–and that means it’s trash day.

With Pepper watching, I filled up another trunk load. This time, it was all the furniture I’d taken apart, so at least free disposal. In Germany, some trash is free to get rid of. Furniture is on the list. Yay!

Taking the furniture apart had been the right move. But it meant carrying many smaller pieces to the car. I took apart the rotting bench to add to the load. It did put up a fight. Why is everything too rotten to keep but too intact to easily get rid off?

But, as always, I managed to get the job done. The trunk was filling up, and the garden getting a little less messy. I am getting closer to not having trash lying around everywhere on the overgrown plot.

After this day, I’d estimate there are two or three more loads lying around in piles. When I am done, I’ll finally have to give the car a good clean. I won’t think about what I’ll do next episode to add more piles. No, no. For now, the piles were shrinking. Progress!

After running my errands and driving off the trash, I tackled our pest problems at home.

I’d already treated some plants with neem oil. Now, I wanted to add some beneficials. I’d ordered a package of nematodes. I was surprised to receive a beige powder. I hadn’t realized you get the eggs, not living nematodes. Makes a lot more sense, of course.

I watered every plant that wasn’t in hydroponics with the solution–still very skeptical. I hate fungus gnats. Honestly, small flying things are my nemesis. So, I had to try.

As this won’t change the taste of my food or harm my seedlings, I decided to give them a good dosing as well. I am so glad to be rid of that watering bulb. The continuous-spray bottle is much better.

It was also high time to thin out some of the seedlings. Instead of killing them, I transplanted. I have the room, and I won’t be sad about more tomatoes.

They moved into free compartments on another tray–which is way too small, so they’ll need to move again. My seedlings are growing well. Most of the seeds germinated. I happily transplanted tiny tomato plant after tiny tomato plant. I know I’ll soon need to start moving them to larger homes until they can move outside. It’s definitely still too cold for them in the garden.

I added some extra soil on top of those stupid pre-filled trays. The bell peppers are still dormant. I am doubtful they’ll come up. But everything else has sprouted. I didn’t do all the necessary research before planting some of these. The cucumbers, for example, need to move.

Accomplished but tired, I set out to make a quick meal. It had been a long day with many steps, many little tasks, and–most exhaustingly–social interaction in town. The social dance of “normal people” exhausts me. A trip to stores drains me more than lugging endless trash around.

So, I buttered some bread and made very simple grilled-cheese sandwiches. Marvin is still at the shop, so this bread is from the local farm.

I transferred them to the air fryer to make room in the pan and fried some eggs, as well. Small kitchens require some adaptations. In the end, it always works one way or another.

Drained from the day, Pepper and I watched some TV with my husband and rested. Meanwhile, the beige powder was transforming into living wriggling little nematodes in my soil.

So long, and thanks for being here.