After a fairly dreadful bout with some sort of 24 hour flu-type-thing, and my lamenting that yesterday was so beautiful and I had to stay inside, I managed to venture out there this morning and take some pictures. I’m actually feeling much, much better this today so I might even venture the whole five minutes to the tiny Rona down the street and see what they have in lights, soil, and fertilizer. I need all three to finish repotting the tomatoes that have been potted up over the past week that so sorely need more room.

What you see in the first photo were those that needed potting up the most desperately – they were way too big and needed to be separated. Because I can’t bare to cull down the starts to only ONE, I always end up repotting 2-3 of each variety, then end up with way too many come time to actually transplant.

I’ve never had trouble getting rid of any, however, and I’m sure that will continue to be the case this year.

While I am logging these today, they actually did happen at various times over the previous week (until I ran out of potting soil).

It’s also officially the first day of spring today, although to be honest it’s felt like spring here for at least a month. Ever since we got that strange and bizarre dump of 1ft of snow, and when that melted off (in two days), it was like the sky parted, sun shone down, and spring was here.

Not quite literally, it’s been pretty rainy here and overcast for the past few weeks, but it’s been warm for my prairie-raised self, and the flowers blooming so that’s spring to me.

Of course I’ll have to do battle with all these bloody bulbs that have naturalized in my to-be garden beds (where ever I move this seems to be something I have to do).

The pink hyacinths I will get rid of at any cost, I absolutely loathe them. The purple hyacinths I’ll move to an inconspicuous spot, because I don’t mind them as much, and they smell nicer than the pink ones.

The grape hyacinths I’ll definitely be keeping because I adore them.

I feel so rushed this year, and I can’t get over this feeling. It’s because I’m not used to having a winter so short. Normally that this time of year I’d just be starting some tomatoes.

But this year, I already have garden beds to build and soil to amend. I have squash and cukes and whatnot to start indoors, and I should have started my peas and lettuce outdoors already, but I have even gotten to that yet.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining at my lovely extended growing season that I’m still basking in, but it’s a huge change to come to all of a sudden when you’re so used to not being able to plant out anything until almost June. Here, in less than a month the tomatoes will have to go out.