Hello, Petunia.

Can you believe how tiny these sprouts are?  Sowing the seed was like sprinkling pixie dust and hoping for the best...

These small beautiful things are a mix of heirloom petunias, called "Balcony Mix" that I purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed.  It's hard to believe it now, but in a few weeks' time these little sprouts will have grown to be vining beauties three feet long or more, covered in trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of lilac, purple, and pink.  I can't wait to see the filled hanging baskets and window boxes this summer.  It will be gorgeous...and, because these are an heirloom variety, they have a sweet scent and delicious nectar that will attract all kinds of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to my yard.

Everything's Growing

It's funny, isn't it, how you can wait forever for a seed to germinate, and then suddenly, they are ready to move on to a bigger pot.  Once they hit the first true leaf size, most seedlings have used up whatever goodness was in their starting compost.  Oh, they may look small, but they typically have a root system three to four times the size of what you see above soil--and all those roots are sucking up nutrients like mad.

At that point, you need to tease them apart from the clump that grew from your scatter-sowing in a small tub, and gently separate the individual plants.  Each plant will get it's own pot.  I found a great deal on a set of 18 three-inch pots that came with a water-tight tray, and once they are filled with my homemade potting mix, the little plants are now able to grow more and more roots.  With all those roots, it won't be long before I see more stems and leaves poking up.

Just look how happy the sage is now.  It's nearly three inches tall already, and check out the cardoon.

Oh cardoon, I think I love you.

Get Your Wellies On

I stumbled across this fun little introductory video the other night, and I just love this gardener's quirky vintage style.  I am also envious of her red wellies and awesome outdoor kettle.  For a first video, it's quite entertaining and well filmed, both qualities I like in YouTube shows.  I'm looking forward to seeing more videos--one of her planned projects is to build a hedgehog house.  How cool would it be to live in a place where you can have a hedgehog house in your garden??

I really need to get one of those kettles.  And a pair of red wellies.  Desperately need the red wellies...

Crockpot Butter Bliss

The leeks are growing, the days are lengthening, chicks are in the incubator and new kits are in the nest box.

Spring is coming right along, all things considered.  Oh, I know we're going to get more snow--March is always a snowy month--but with the longer daylight in the evenings and temperatures above zero, I can feel my spirits lift and my mind is full of spring.

Part of my spring preparations includes clearing one of the freezers on the porch.  The fruit & veg freezer is suffering rather badly from frost build up, which is making it very difficult to pull out the tubs with their treasure of frozen delights.  Its time to defrost the freezer.  Ugh.  Now that is one chore I dislike, but it must be done.  Right now, its too cold on the porch to defrost anything so I'm working on clearing out some of the fruit surplus.  This past weekend, I dug out two gallon bags of peach slices and popped them into the crock pot.  After a little defrost-cooking time on low,  I added the ingredients to make a batch of Honey-Cardamom Peach Butter.  The beautiful thing about making fruit butters in the crockpot is that you can leave them on very low (my crockpot has a "keep warm" setting) with the lid propped open with a wooden spoon, and in the morning you have a thick, rich puree ready for canning or for saving in the freezer.  My two gallon bags cooked down into two and a half pints of thick, rich peach butter--perfect over yogurt for breakfast.  I'm also planning to make an Italian Jam Crostata this week, for a simple and delicious dessert.

Now, what to do with some of those blueberries pining away in there...

The Wee Little Kits

The first babies of the Spring have arrived on the Farmlette, and boy are they cute!  Ophelia is taking wonderful care of her six fat little wrigglers.

Really, how could anyone resist those little ears?

Hello, little sausages!

They spend their days snuggled into their warm cosy nest.

Bribery: How daily checks get done.

She may have her pineapple, but she doesn't take her beady eye off me.

Have you seen anything cuter?  I mean, really.  Wee little baby bunnies in a warm and fuzzy nest.  Awww!

Another Food Documentary!

Just when you thought I wouldn't find another documentary about local food movements, tah dah!  I found one.  Funnily enough, it was an Amazon Instant Video recommendation. 

Apparently, the buyer pattern enhancement software they use actually does work.  Who knew.  You go, marketing people.  Sell me more video rentals like this one, and much fewer penile enhancements, and we'll be good.

Weekending

Ahh, the weekend!  It is looking like it is going to be a warm one, highs in the 30s which means the copious amounts of snow should start disappearing.  The porch may flood (it does every year) but that's okay--I'm going to be puttering about the place happily with my wellies on if need be.

Projects for the weekend include a bit of a clean, the place is pretty dirty (it's hit that point of winter where everything is just nasty-gross-dirty) and it's getting depressing, and some cooking too.  I'm going to make a batch of carrot-fennel soup, a simply delicious concoction of carrots, fennel and orange juice which may sound like an odd addition but it just makes the whole thing sing with culinary joy.  I'm also going to pot on some lavender, savory, and other herb friends who need more space to stretch their little roots.  And if it does really warm up, I may be able to clean the rabbit cages of their frozen-on hay and other debris.  I'm hoping it is mild enough that I can open the windows and let some fresh air into the house.  It's getting quite stale in there, and I have a rather strong rotten fishy odor lingering near the plants...I watered the bigger plantlets with a weak fish emulsion a couple days ago and man does that stuff reek.  The plants are happy, though, so I guess a little stench is good for the garden.

Of course, I'm sure I'll work in some lounging time, perhaps some knitting time, and hopefully some friends-over-for-lunch time.  There is nothing quite so lovely as a lazy-ish weekend puttering around the house!