Getting growing

Every early spring I aspire to grow all our vegetables from seed and enthusiastically press them into pots of fine soil. I water them and place them in a sunny windowsill. Nearly all of our south-facing windows have an overhanging roof above them, however, and every year I watch my tiny seedlings sprout and reach for a bit of sunlight they never find. They grow ever paler and leggier until they finally collapse in defeat. This year I finally smartened up and set up shelves and lights in the basement. How about that...it really works!

Everything I planted is alive and growing, but the tomatoes are especially robust. We've got Heinz for canning, Sunchocola cherry tomatoes, and Brandywines for slicing. I've transplanted them once into larger pots, but they're almost ready for another size up.

I'm glad they're so happy under the lights because they'll be there for a while. I started them awfully early, and it'll be cold and rainy outside for another two months. Just keep on growing!

Bun Bun's first bike ride

I think she liked it!

The child's gone wild

The weather here has turned shockingly lovely, so much so that I declared yesterday 'Outside Day' complete with lunchtime picnic, lounging in the sunshine, bare feet, dinner from the grill, and all that good stuff. Ole has taken right to it, of course, and by the end of the day was covered in sand and dirt with a black eye and a bloody nose--but no complaints until it was time to come inside. Okay, the injuries sound much worse than they were, but I do think the boy has gone a bit wild.

A tree climber just like his mama!

"Careful," I said drowsily from my sunny blanket.

Even tough guys need a snack break.

The wee baby chicks have become teenagers already, so I moved them to a more spacious home in the gym where they can roam around a bit more but still be safe. They, too, got to enjoy Outside Day in the grass and sunshine. 

And here are a couple photos in the garden where Ole helped to replace a fence post from inside the hole. Muddy muddy muddy!