Kay

Those steps are beautiful. The whole passage is art actually.

Potting up basil this weekend and unreasonably excited about it. Genovese and Persian basil. That's wild thyme on the bottom right.

ALERT: RUMBLES

Absolutely love when tomato seedlings start giving off the unmistakable aroma of real tomato plants.

mosquitoes

I can't rule that out but I've seen a lot of turkey vultures in different conditions and they didn't have that look to me. Would like a second sighting to be sure, it was quick. Windy af.

I can't say for sure if they were already in the area, but I think I saw my first two this evening. Way up there! Glimpse of crooked wings.

Godspeed.

Phragmites. UGH

Job opportunity: Trappist Beer Needs Trappist Monks to Brew It, but the Vocation Is Dwindling Abbeys have fewer brothers these days, worrying those devoted to the high-end beers https://www.wsj.com/articles/trappist-beer-needs-trappist-monks-to-brew-it-but-the-vocation-is-dwindling-11615392562

Very good report! Cool that everything germinated so well and that you're nearing potting up time already. It would be interesting to hear the results of the magnesium/phosphorus if you decide you need to do it. So far I've only started petunia seeds, a new experiment this year, tiny slow growers but doing well. This weekend I plan to start tomato and basil seeds and then toward the end of the month cucumbers and the main batch of annual flowers for the butterfly, bee, and hummingbird buffet. I think I'll try sowing some lettuce, spinach, and parsley outdoors in containers sometime soon, too.

how are your pepper sprouts/seedlings @mattie g ?

It's totally possible they're here already and haven't been raucous enough yet for me to notice. Once that starts it's almost impossible not to notice

I'm on osprey watch (*technically osprey listen during work hours)

The wind is truly "whistling" today.

Deratios

Rain has gotten heavier with better drop size.

Has anyone had luck planting year-old or more greens seeds (lettuce, chard, mustard, etc)? I resisted but have leftovers.

Zinnia, cosmos, mexican sunflower, nasturtium, tomatoes, cukes, couple types of basil (aka the usual). I got dill, not as much for eating but I read it is a butterfly host plant/fave. Wild thyme, flat parsley. Also going to try growing petunia and snapdragon seeds. I splurged and got too many kinds of zinnia (6), cosmos (4), and tomatoes (5, plus they sent a free pack). I do not have room for all this haha. I'm also nearly incapable of thinning and throwing away. Last year I gave a bunch of seedlings to a coworker friend and she had a blast growing them so going to do that again. She later made me a couple beautiful zinnia drawings I like reading about/seeing others' plants too.

I think my seed order might arrive today!

Good idea, and I should have suggested native irises. I have a neighbor who has some that look similar to siberian in a place that gets muddy but also dries out and she's a knowledegable gardener and believer in natives so it was probably one of these. https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/iris/Blue_Flag/index.shtml

Just remembered...you might want to look into "rain gardens" for ideas. You may already know this but they're plantings for areas that regularly get runoff but also dry out (so not the same as a wetland).

1.5 just now, possibly more due to compaction.

It's been snowing very nicely here .8"

Nice, good luck with the seed nursery! I still haven't tried growing peppers from seed but may someday take the journey.