Last time, we left things while I harvested spinach in the garden. This time, we'll see what I did with the harvest. We'll also tackle some other indoor tasks that were urgently waiting for my attention. It's going to be another vlog-style mesh of Kate-does-things.

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I can't wait to return to more educational content. But for now, let's continue this story.

I will leave most of these corn salad clusters to go to seed. I selectively harvested the ones that looked sad. This year is about seed stock for the new garden. So, the nicest plants get to stay.

I also harvested a final batch of both varieties of spinach. The rest will be left to go to seed, as well. Especially the Verdil winter giant was no longer looking too fresh. I'll left almost all to bolt.

I won't get to grow much in this garden this year, so I can at least get the most out of what's already here. Leaving these to go to seed means preserving their characteristics for the next generation of spinach. I don't grow F1 hybrids, so anything I grow can be saved to regrow--now a little more adapted to my region.

Remember how I told you last time that perennial plants get used to their environment? It's a little more complicated when you take the seed route, because it's evolution instead of adaptation.I seeded spinach last year. The seeds that were suitable for my environment sprouted and survived. Those are the ones I get to save and resow--an extra step well worth it.

I also harvest some of the near endless amount of chives on the path. I left most to bloom.

On the way to the car, I spotted some fresh nettles, so I went back for the gloves, and harvested some. I know you can learn how to grab them, even get used to the sting. I'm not there yet. Nettles are worth it, though. They are delicious and packed with green-goodness nutrients. I admit, though, that I more often go for the dead nettles. This patch from last year regrew, so I harvested some. The golden dead nettles in the forest garden weren't in bloom yet, so I went with the purple ones here.

The local friend told me it had rained once. But the plants need a lot of help. Here, it still hasn't rained. It's been a dry year. My friend and I are doing what we can to keep these potted plants alive in the endless sunshine. Good thing, I saved so much water when it was too wet last year. I have enough. At least that isn't an issue.

I could no longer put off many of the bad-weather tasks. Apparently, the bad weather won't come. We'd been stumbling over the Ethernet cable for weeks now. In the badly lit hallway, I put it up along the ceiling. Seriously, this is how bad the light is unedited.

To get the cable to the bottom of my door, I had to clear out some of the shelves. We don't own a lot of books. This is one of three similar stacks. These are the practical books, the ones we refer back to over an over. My favorite stack. The books I wrote are on another one. Right then, I was only glad I didn't have to move a large bookshelf. There, internet situation solved. I had more to do.

That morning, the toilet seat had given up. The screw was rusted through from generations of neighbors. The worst part was the barely-intact plastic screw on this thing. I essentially had to tear it off. I fought with the same screw for what felt like an eternity. Don't mind the scratch. I'd unloaded the garden house contents to the garage the day before and the garage door attacked me.

The back screw was done in seconds, though... How did this hold at all? I'm not sure the new one I got from the landlord is much better quality but it is at least staying in place... Once I figured out that left and right was labeled viewed from inside the wall, that is. I'm not inside the wall. The lowering mechanism already sounds broken. I'm not sure this toilet will last many rounds of renters. But, it'll last our stay here, and it is much better than what was here. So, I'll take it.

The rest of the day was spent on a good spring clean of the entire place. During my lunch break, I cleaned the nettles and dead nettles. Of course, I made sure not to touch them. Heat kills the stinging cell, so you can eat them without worry--and they are delicious. I served them with some whole-grain bread that day but there are many options. I've still only eaten nettle a handful of times but they are too good not to eat them more often. I'll change that.

That evening, I decided to put on a good book and deal with the ginormous harvest of corn salad and spinach. The sun was setting outside the living room window, and for a moment, the world seemed okay.

This is a pretty honest shot of my kitchen. There is always something waiting to be done or cleaned. The stale breadrolls need crumbing. The surface around the coffee grinder needs cleaning. I also tend to wear headphones because this is what it actually sounds like there. Yeah, not ideal. Let's turn the noise off. The dishwasher is loud. The server is loud. Even the stove is loud. It's all loud. But hey, the view is nice. I have headphones.

I slowly sorted my way through the corn salad. I was home alone for four days, and ate almost all of this alone. The plants looked beautiful--and they were even more delicious. Corn salad is one of my favorite greens. It gets bonus points for growing over winter. It is also very easy to grow. I'll show you in fall. I am still keeping my hopes up that I'll be growing some in our next garden, not just on the windowsill. I'll share the journey either way.

It took about half an hour to finish all the corn salad. The next morning, I was already busily tackling more projects. Even in limbo, there is plenty to do. So long, and thanks for being here.