Life in the Cheese Drawer

i walked outside today, and it was the most comfortable i’d felt outside since probably late august or early september. it was a gorgeous 78 degrees! it’s about time, mother nature.
i got home, changed into a tshirt and shorts, and strutted around my house completely comfortable because it was that perfect temperature of 74 inside. glorious!
then i went for a run, and i forgot how running with a little bit of heat kind of sucks. not so glorious. no worries. i’ll deal!
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my tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and brussels sprouts are in the ground! here’s hoping something comes of the seeds i started myself. i’m really worried about my tomatoes.
i think i want to plant another row of potatoes in a week or two so i have a more prolonged crop. i’ve got to do that with the lettuce and herbs, too, and maybe i’ll try it with the cucumbers.
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i decided to have a birthday party because i turn 35 – THIRTY FIVE – this year. ack. so bring on being with people i like, some booze, and a fire.

when it’s warm enough to get outside, it’s time to get outside and do stuff. this is one of the reasons i love may (along with the greening of everything). it’s tied with october as my favorite month!
since it’s new house time, this means it’s time to get everything in order again outside. *sigh* but this is good – it gives me a reason to get outside.
yesterday my dad came over and we put together the garden beds in the backyard. after nate balked at how much dirt we would actually need, i poked around town and found a guy who delivers dirt. $100 for 5 cubic yards of dirt (that’s a lot of dirt). compared to the $280 at the first place i called, i say that’s a steal.
today the dirt showed up, but first i stained/sealed the post on the front stoop. it was a gross blond wood color and needed something.

after the dirt showed up, nate and i spent probably a couple hours getting some dirt back there. we still aren’t done; i figure another 25 wheelbarrows before the bare minimum is done.

then i decided to try to get the rain barrel done. it was surprisingly easy.

finally, i screwed in the basket hook on the front post so i have a place for both my fuschias.

the rctc hort department has a yearly spring sale where you can buy flowers and veggies. i went last year and got some great stuff. took my mom to it this year, and she picked up pansies and geraniums, while i picked up some flower, peppers and tomatoes, and a hanging fuschia basket. i’m going to have tomatoes coming out of my ears.
so, my dads getting the boxes ready. this saturday i’m hoping to get over to get the compost. i already got the loam last weekend to mix in. i know it’s really soon to be putting in my veggies, especially since it’s cooler than normal, but my plants i started from seed are going nuts! and i’m getting anxious to get this stuff in 😀 yay garden!

welp, as a side effect of starting my seeds, i seem to have become a mushroom farmer. :/

my tomatoes are sprouting! this is good news. i’m hoping they fair better than the last time i started tomatoes indoors. we’ll see what happens!
meanwhile, i’m still running growlamps in the office and feeling like an outlaw…
 

it’s seed time. with all my grow lights, it looks like i’m growing some devil’s ganja in here, but i’m not. it’s just tomatoes and brussels sprouts.

in 2011 i had an epic garden. unfortunately my seed starting abilities were not so epic. i tried my hand at two varieties of tomatoes as well as rosemary. the tomatoes germinated but didn’t get their real leaves in, and the rosemary did nothing.
i bought a little greenhouse starter thing today to have an other go at starting seed. today i checked on my rosemary plants since they’d been sitting there for a week. they’re already germinating! the package says it takes 2-3 weeks to germinate, and it’s only been a week.
i see this as good news.
the rest of my seeds came in today, so i’ve got to start my tomatoes in a couple weeks as well as the brussels sprouts. everything else can be started in ground, but if i have some room, i might try to start some other seeds (herbs mostly). i’m really hoping i can get my tomatoes to actually do something this year! if all goes to plan, this should be another epic garden year.
come on, spring!