We were all set for a foot of blowing, drifting snow. Then nothing much happened! Yep, the wind blew like crazy, making our little wind charger howl. And, yes, it snowed. But we only ended up with about two inches on the ground. Okay, so we’re not complaining! I’m really ready to see dirt, not more snow anyway. Yesterday, I transplanted the petunias. It was nice to be able to do some more normal stuff again.

Transplanting petunias. I use a little plastic, pointed plant label to dig up the tiny plants.
The petunias are really happy now that they’re in larger containers.

One thing we’ve changed is dumping our ProMix into a plastic, covered garbage can, right next to the planting table. Before, it was hard to access it in the bags and our cats thought it was a real nice batch of kitty litter. Even when I put flats on top of the closed bags, they often knocked them off and made unwelcome use of the potting mix. Not nice! (I saved that nasty soil to put in the bottom of our large pots we use for annuals outside.) The covered garbage can works so much better!

This is how I handle my ProMix now. Much better!

Will also climbed up into the storage barn loft and brought in three of our little plastic greenhouses, which we set up in the patio windows in the living room. Our peppers had gotten a bit leggy, due to not enough light. But now they’re in full sun and will soon sturdy up. Like tomatoes that get leggy, when I transplant them, I bury much of the stem. This keeps them from breaking off or flopping when they get planted outside. But, unlike tomatoes, which form roots along the stems, peppers do not. It does not hurt them to transplant them deeply though. I didn’t get the chili canned. It seems like everything takes longer than it used to, due to the healing knee. But it’s still improving.

So, today, I’ve got hamburger thawed out, beans boiled and soaking on the stove and lots of tomato sauce and spices rounded up. This afternoon, that chili will get canned! Any leftover beans will be canned alone. They’re so handy for quick meals down the pike. — Jackie

9 COMMENTS

  1. Are those Cosmic Cherry Petunias? I’m growing those too! I started mine on March 5th and they are huge already. I’m dying to plant them outside. I’m in east TN zone 7a/b in the Smokies and this time of year is so tricky. It was 90 degrees a few days ago and tonight’s low is 37 , so I will wait til later in the month.
    Good luck with knee. I had a total replacement 2 years ago.

  2. Good Friday was tilling day and we planted taters today. Going to be in the 70s this coming week (and almost 80 a couple of days) meaning asparagus might start popping up. Got it burned off last week and today I raked and removed a few remaining stalks. Tomorrow I’ll dig up a few weeds that already came up. Even with small feet and being careful it can be hard to not step on a new shoot.
    Working on the strawberry bed as I see weeds already coming up there. If only what we want to harvest to eat was as hearty as weeds.

  3. The mid Atlantic coast has psychotic weather with 30 degrees temp swings. Spring is such a wait and see season. But it’s here, I feel for those with snow still on the ground. So happy to hear you are on the mend. Prayers for continued healing?.

  4. Glad your knee is better. I think the warmer weather will help it too. Love your pictures of little tiny plants growing. And super glad the snow storm missed you. We had high wind and heavy rain but no tornados, thank goodness.

  5. So grateful your forecast storm did not happen where you are. We missed a hailstorm by two miles! Here in SW MO, two inches of snow might close school..if wind chills were low. So glad your knee is allowing some more movement….keep up those exercises and be careful. Happy planting and canning! Blessings.

  6. Your plants look so good!! I am not going to start much this year due to health and household challenges. But I am going to the Amish greenhouses and get what I need. I am most fortunate to have a friend that is setting me up with raised beds out of watering tanks. I can’t wait to grow something!!!

    What kind of promix do you get? I see there are several varieties. Do you have a picture of the bag? I hear you about those funny cats leaving you gifts!!!

    Glad your knee is getting better. Cindy

  7. I’m glad your snow storm turned out to be a non-event. We had really bad storms Tuesday night, our first thunderstorm of the year. The tallest pine in my front yard got struck by lightning. My baby boy slept through the whole thing, but the crash woke my husband and I up. I can only imagine what my goats were thinking, the pine is pretty close to their shed. It now has a crack that goes almost the whole way up which is about 70 80 ft. We had a tree service out to look at it and thankfully he doesn’t think it’s an immediate danger of falling.

    Leggy tomatoes…mine sprouted way earlier than anticipated and got to be 6 inches before being noticed. Should I compost them and start over or should they be ok, just need to be planted deeper?

  8. Just discovered your blog. I’ve been subscribed to BHM for about a year and have purchased a few of the books on canning. So happy to stumble across the blog. I feel like I’m catching up with an old friend.

    Glad you didn’t get walloped with snow and that your knee continues to heal.

  9. We were supposed to also get a bad storm with lots of ice…nope. Little bit of ice last night and it’s already gone. However, a friend in Ontario said they had hail, ice, wind, power outages, and thunder and that it was crazy. Your petunias are looking swell! I bet it was heavenly to finally go in a store and do some shopping. Soon the surgery will be in the distant past…thank heaven. Pyro

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