Here it Comes

Finally. I think it might finally be spring here in the Heartland.  So many things to do suddenly.

Like mowing the lawn.  I need to find the charger for my mower and make sure the batteries still work.

The really good news is I can finally start planting the gardens for the year.  We're scaling back a bit this year in an effort to maintain sanity whilst the changes keep rolling in.  Gearing up for a move and the demolition of the old homestead this summer along with planning for festivals and farmers markets has left me with little time for anything else.  So we scale back a bit.

Next year we hit it hard, I hope.

Anyway...here's a gratuitous pic of my onions-to-be.  Every year I try to start seeds. They sprout then die.  So, I go out and buy sets because I can't find plants anywhere.  Then I find plants and buy those, too.  I'm hopeless.  But I will have tons of green onions for the farmer's market, so there is that.

The onion plants in the front are a mere fraction of the whole bunch of onions I got.  I pick out the biggest and the best for nurturing into larger bulbs.  The tiny ones go in the ground for spring salad onions.  I have Red Candy, Candy Hybrid, and Walla Walla this year.  The bulbs are the standard big box store variety.

My seedlings are getting way too big to be in the house.  I will remedy that over the next week or so:

These peppers want to flower!

The tomatoes are way too big.

Some of the plants will probably not make it outside.  For example, this basil is getting big enough to harvest fresh for a meal.  At this stage, it probably won't harden off well and will sun scald or be stunted by the transplant so I'll direct seed some more outside. I might try potting them up to a bigger container and see how long I can keep them going in the house.

 That's it from The Slice for this week!

Rolling with the Changes

Things are changing in my little world.  I foresee lots of upheaval on the horizon.  I haven't really figured out how to talk about exactly what is happening other than it will change a really big part of my life.  I will blog about it eventually when I get a little distance and perspective. So, until then, I'm keeping this in mind.

In light of the changes on the way, I've changed the name of the blog.  'Almost an Acreage' was a silly title that I put up there because I had to name it something.  The new name is more fitting and has more meaning.  Mostly because my husband and I say it every blessed time we come home.

We come around the corner and down our street to the house and one or both of us says, "Here's our little slice!" followed by smiles and knowing glances.   I can't imagine that there is another couple in the whole world so pleased every time they come within view of their home.  I do imagine that most people see a house as a place to live.  This little place means so much more than that to us.

The place is really small.  We're on a 75 foot by 75 foot lot.  Not anywhere near an acreage of any kind.  But we pack a lot of living in our little space.

In other news, spring is springing!  Today we took a trip to the home store and along with some other things, I brought home these little lovelies:

Starry Night Viola

Blue Moon Viola

I have a special place in my heart for violas.  My paternal grandmother's name was Viola.  Actually, Viola was her middle name. Her first name was Temperance. But, I didn't know that until long after she was dead.  I'm told she absolutely hated it.  I can only imagine the fire daggers from her eyes if I had called her Temperance...or 'Tempie' as she was known as a child.

Okay, time to change the subject.  She'll probably come back and haunt me for that.  Maybe I can keep her at bay with this:

Grandma's fine-leaved peonies

Last fall, I rescued Grandma's fine-leaved peonies from the drought stricken garden at her house in The Burg.  They have emerged from the ground in their new homes and are growing well.  It even looks like they might flower this year already.

In the greenhouse, the seedlings are coming along splendidly.  The tomatoes have all germinated and are finally starting to grow their first true leaves. Low light conditions on the kitchen shelf made them a wee bit spindly.  I'll plant them extra deep in the garden bed when the time comes and they'll grow lots more roots along that spindly stem.

"We're not really this pale.  It's just the lighting."

The sweet peppers have sprouted as well.  For some reason, the hot peppers aren't growing yet.  I'm hopeful that they're just being picky about the temperature.  It's been difficult to moderate the temperature in the greenhouse so I moved them back inside until they germinate.  Just in case they don't, I bought a six pack of chili peppers today.  I'll have to find some jalapenos if worse comes to worst.

I keep things well watered in the greenhouse with this spiffy red watering can.  My husband (the best husband EVER) got me this watering can for Valentine's Day.  Is that love or what?

I don't know about you, but for me spring just isn't spring without berries!  Here we have the first strawberries peaking out from under their leafy mulch.  Below that is a shot of the gooseberry bush I planted last year with its first flush of leaves.  Berries might be my favorite fruit.  Maybe that's why I've planted six different kinds.

Baby strawberries.

Pixwell gooseberry bush.

This year, spring brings a lot of new changes for us and our little slice.  All will be well, I'm sure, but it might be a long, tough row to hoe.

It doesn't really fit here, but I'll leave you with this gem because I love it.  Rock on!