Good morning! Can you believe this is the last #WeekendCoffeeShare of February 2023? Where has the time gone?
If we were having coffee, I would show you some photos of my backyard as of February 22, 2023 – the morning after a huge snowstorm that covered my entire garden again. The snow accumulation in my neighborhood was minimal compared to that of Salt Lake City 30 miles away.
My co-workers who live south of the city got over 2-feet of snow on Tuesday. When I heard that, I silently expressed gratitude that I didn’t get that amount of snow because my entire body would’ve been in so much pain from shoveling all that snow.
There’s supposed to be another snowstorm arriving tomorrow (Sunday), I heard that storm is currently wreaking havoc in the Los Angeles area, bringing an insane amount of rain and perhaps snow.
Before moving to Utah, I used to dream about seeing snow. I remember when I lived in SoCal, my step-father took me to the top of Big Bear Mountain so I could see a measly amount of old snow. It was brown, hard, and cold. There I was, over the moon with joy. Now, snow is just something that wreaks havoc on my day but hearing snow is falling in SoCal and even San Francisco feels a bit apocalyptic.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you 4-day workweeks sucks. My co-workers were out this week, so it was just me holding down the fort and managing 3 email inboxes. Usually, I wouldn’t mind but lately, all the emails have been directing at me – questions only I can answer. Meanwhile, I am still 2 weeks behind on my billing and next week is once again month-end and I have a doctor appointment and a surgery.
I swear, some of the emails make me want to bang my head against the wall. Some people ask the dumbest questions.
Finally, consider this the first garden tour of 2023. To my surprise, the seedlings are coming along nicely. The two over-wintered peppers have grown tall and they’re currently producing peppers. I haven’t killed the rosemary in the clay pot yet and the violas and pansies in the peat pellets have all sprouted and coming along nicely.
Earlier this week, I teased apart the broccoli seedling and transplanted them into a 6-cell tray (bottom right picture). Surprisingly, they are doing well after transplant. Usually, the transplant process is what kills my seedlings. Maybe I’m getting good at transplanting or maybe I have confidence issue and often don’t give myself enough credit.
There are a total of 5 broccoli seedlings and I decided to sow a seed for the 6th cell. That seed germinated yesterday. That was fast. I also sow some lettuce seeds in another 6-cell, which also have germinated yesterday. All the seeds have decided cooperating this year. They all germinated before I got worried or lost my patience, even the peppers.
According to a vegetable planting guide I got from my local extension service, I’m supposed to transplant my broccoli outside on March 15 and lettuce 5 days later on March 20. Though I can’t wait, I’m also concerned about the weather.
I was watching the weather forecast last night and according to the report, the average high for this time of the year is 49-degree-Fahrenheit but for at least the next 7 days, the daily high is struggling to reach freezing (32-degrees-Fahrenheit). Let’s not forget the soil is still frozen. Why do I feel like things will be delayed this year?
Meanwhile, mom is still complaining about me starting seeds indoors like always. Her comments gets me down and angry a lot of the times, almost like she’s trying to discourage me from taking any sort of a hobby. One of her comments has been, “Why are you spending all the money and energy growing vegetables when I can go to the store and buy organic for so cheap?”
I don’t think she’s ever thought about I’m not growing conventional vegetables found at the grocery store. I growing the varieties that cannot be found at the grocery stores. Oh, and if you’ve ever had homegrown vegetables, you will know it doesn’t taste remotely like the stuff you find at the grocery stores.
#weekendcoffeeshare is hosted by Natalie of Natalie the Explorer. I appreciate you stopping by and hope to see you back here next weekend.
This is Another Story 
How lovely to see the fruits of your labor thriving. Yes, I fully agree that the store bought vegetables taste nothing like home grown
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Thank you, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that. 😊
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You’re welcome. It’s the absolute truth
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I think snow is the kind of situation that is much better in our head than in reality. I always say I love snow, and it’s true, to a certain extent, walking in the fresh snow-filled air is great until it tires me out 10 times faster than a normal walk and until I have to shovel it from our stairs and pavement! But it is indeed beautiful looking though.
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Absolutely, we see all these romantic things happening in the movies and instantaneously thought it would happen in real life. I think it causes a pretty high bar to be set. I would say I love snow, too, only when I can just sit back, relax, and watch the snow without having to worry about shoveling the driveway and sidewalk afterwards. I agree, walking on snow can tire a person out fast.
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Yep! Two-hour dig-out late this morning. At least we didn’t lose power. Running out of places to put the snow now. The driveway piles are over my head, and the plow berm had to be cleared into an icy heap into the street at the edge of the driveway. Getting ridiculous.
My kitchen window seedlings were maybe planted too early. They already seem stunted in the starter trays, and are suffering an infestation of aphids. I think we’re both ready for summer.
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Yikes! Your muscles must be sore. You make me feel thankful I’ve never had that much snow here though I shouldn’t jinx it given the record breaking amount of snow this year. Yeah, I think I’m ready for summer, this snow pack is getting ridiculous.
Oh no, I’m sorry your seedlings got aphids, that’s never fun to deal with. I almost had to defoliate my pepper plant a few weeks ago when it got infested with mites. Ended up removing about 70% of its leaves. It’s doing fine now, it seems. Even the plant insect couldn’t do the trick. It’s always a disheartening day when we have to let a plant go.
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That BBQ isn’t going to get used anytime soon! Loving the seeds, that’s inspiring.
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I wanted to throw that thing away but mom wanted to keep it despite never using it and not let me use it. It’s clunky and an eyesore to my garden and it blocks so much of the sun in front of the raised bed.
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Good for you with the homegrown veggies!
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Thank you, now I just need to convince my mom that because she sees it as a waste of time, waste of money, and a silent killer because she thinks my soil-less starter mix is killing her with its “pathogens”.
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Well, she doesn’t have to eat them, right?
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Unfortunately, she does eat them despite often thinking they’re just subpar.
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Oy!
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Your garden is coming along well. When to transplant to outdoors is always tricky, regardless of where you live.
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Thank you. I agree.
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There is something so rewarding about homegrown, though. Look at all that beautiful snow. Sorry to hear work is piling up. KL ❤
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I agree, there’s something about it that makes one even look at grocery stores vegetables differently.
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The mountains of Los Angeles got snow. I live in the valley where we experienced hailed but only for a short period. It’s the coldest winter I remember. I am hoping at some point, I drive to the mountains to get some snow.
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It’s definitely been a strange winter for most of us on the west coast. It’s March and we’re still 20-degrees below average. So yeah, it’s definitely been a cold and strange winter.
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