Obviously I'm drunk on Spring

As you probably know and are super annoyed by, it's Spring here in NorCal and has been since like, November.

Cherry tree's blooming.
ALREADY EVEN THOUGH IT'S ONLY FUCKING MARCH HELLO.

We just barely had a winter, if you can even call that five day period where it rained a normal rain, winter, and, well, the First Day of Spring is now suddenly Thursday, so OK then.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and be all WOE IS ME HOW COME THE WEATHER IS ALL SUNSHINEY AND BEAUTIFUL WHY WON'T IT RAIN AND BE COLD because I know you'll all hate me and leave stupid comments about how it was, like 74 below at your house yesterday (Hi, Sara. Yes. You've had the world's shittiest winter and I 100% feel for you. I also know that you wouldn't leave me a stupid comment, so that's why I'm writing the world's longest side note in parenthesis for you. Hi again.) or some shit and that's just not why I'm here.

I'm here to tell you about the other liquor cabinet I call The Garden.

The other beverage I consume in the garden. AKA - the only one without gin in it. (It's tea.)

Remember Gardenblahblahblah? Yeah, that's this.

Gardenblahblahblah with a side of I'M SO DRUNK ON SPRING RIGHT NOW.

Honestly, there's so much of it that I really don't know where to start, so we'll just start with what I did today.

I feel a bulleted list coming on.

Oop - here is:

• Seeded 80 or so cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins and zucchini into pots for the Indie Farms Spring Plant Sale
• Seeded 100 or so companion plants, culinary herbs and flowers into flats for the Indie Farms Spring Plant Sale
• Finally got rid of the fucking kale plants that were bolting in the garden while also serving as the condo high rise for every cabbage moth larvae and aphid in the Western Hemisphere
• Harvested worm castings which really means I stole a bucket's worth of worms' poo. Nice, me.
• Watered 100+ tomato and pepper seedlings for the five hundredth time

We're needy. WE NEED THINGS. Like, straightening of our tags which I just noticed is crooked in this photo. Yay.

Yesterday was a similar frazzled litany of gardeny things like:

• Turning the compost in my new compost set up, which is harder than my old just spin the tub method in the Compostumbler, but way faster at making compost and that's what we're after 
• Sorting seed and materials for today's seeding extravaganza
• Ignoring the kale because I was doing it today
• Planning my garden seeding for Wednesday because I apparently can't accomplish shit unless I plan it out way in advance and book time on my own calendar like a fucking lunatic

I've become a total calendar scheduling psychopath, y'all. I now book everything on one of my many Google calendars so that the thing looks like a fucking patchwork quilt of weird activities spread across my days. I think I need a scheduling intervention.

Or an assistant. 

Whatever.

Gardenblahblahblah rules dictate that I focus on the garden, so back to that...

The peas have germinated and tagged their lines just in time for it to be 80 FUCKING DEGREES AROUND HERE. Damnitall.

THE LILACS ARE BLOOMING. Awesome.

Did I tell you that the lilacs are blooming? They are. It's my favorite.

I've kind of gotten into growing herbs because of my extreme nerdiness and this was really exciting for me to see.

Also, I'm growing some peppers.

The kumquats are happening.

The grapes are ON THE JOB.

I grew a boatload of parsnips this winter and we've already eaten them all. Yay.

The winter garden harvest was a goodie.

I harvest a bunch of onions like this about every other day and now I can't imagine not growing onions because of their extreme awesomeness.

Also, as an extension of Gardenblahblahblah, I give you the goings on at work, which I think also counts as gardening. Just bigger. And with fish.

I had to move fish at work to their new big tanks (this is about 10% of the fish, mid-move). Best job.

I grow microgreens now. A lot of them. 

And basil. I grow a lot of basil. It's really happy now that there's more light during the day. It, too, is drunk on Spring.

We just planted hydroponic blueberries under the new high tunnels. Which is something I never thought I'd say.  And is great.

I made painted stakes to mark my different hop varieties because I don't know when to leave well enough alone.

My hydro crops are really happy now that the days are getting longer.

We dug a hole in our new field during class. Then my instructor stood in it. That's all.

We went to a farm on a field trip and they had GOATS. 

Goats that knocked each other down racing to greet us. It was the best day.

Frog butt

I have to pinch the basil tops at least once a week and this is about 1/3 of what comes off. So I eat it.
Enjoyable.

Also, there's stuff going on in the front yard meadow, but I haven't been out there during good light with my good camera to take any pictures that don't look like total bat shit, so we'll wait on that for another day. I'll, like, add it to my calendar or something.

First catch-up. Then gardenblahblahblah.

You guys, it keeps being too long between posts.

I used to be a Coupla Times a Week kinda gal, now I'm...less so.

I get all busy with school and driving to Santa Cruz five days a week and the starting up of this business and the garden OH THE GARDEN and the hunt for snow and then BAM it's been forever since I posted anything.

Rude. It's very rude of me.

So let's catch up really super photographic-like, OK? Then we can all feel better about how it's not you it's me and whatever other relationshippy cliches that I just will not trot out on this blog because they make me want to slice everyone's throat including my own.

I don't do cliches, people, and you know this.

Photo catch-up, then? That's what I thought.

Also, forgive me in advance for showing you photos taken with my phone. You'll know which ones they are because blech.

I brewed my first batch of beer (Chocolate stout) under Bubba's watchful brewer's eye, of course.

 Thing #: I Do Not Know What on the four page To Do List: Tear out the hideous old Santolina and put in a new and ridiculously small Rosemary.

On a separate but equally important To Do list called, "To Do In My Life" - Get first chair at Heavenly.

  Thing #: I Do Not Know What on the four page To Do List: Ski some backcountry (like a freak)

 Thing #: I Do Not Know What on the four page To Do List: Irrigate the new garden bed. WHAT NEW GARDEN BED? I'll tell you in gardenblahblahblah. Just wait.

 Thing #: I Do Not Know What on the four page To Do List: Make lap coasters. Which are, for those of you wondering, a large semi-absorbent fabric coaster that can sit on my lap and absorb the condensation of my cocktail so that it doesn't get my fancy attire all ring stained.  No, I don't know why I make almost pointless things. Let's call it a character flaw.

 Thing #: I Do Not Know What on the four page To Do List: Insulate beer fermentation chamber.
This was certainly NOT pointless.

 Thing #: I Do Not Know What on the four page To Do List: Make new couch cushion pillowcases.

Oh finally it snows in Tahoe. FINA-FUCKING-LY.

This wasn't on any specific list, but who doesn't love watching a cute puppy run around in the snow? Only assholes, that's who.

Some QT in the Sierra backcountry.

And then QT with Bubba at the bar.

I studied for four hours last Saturday and then my neighbors took pity on me and hosted a study break. It is possible that I never returned to studying so it may not have actually qualified as a "break".

I brought these over to the neighbor who hosted my study break. I think you'll agree that she sorely deserved them.

I baked Farmgirl's bran muffins instead of doing 600 other things I should have been doing because that's how I procrastinate, friends - with baked goods.

I shredded all of these vegetables into a big bowl and have been eating it for lunch every day with a squeeze of lemon juice, some olive oil and an avocado sliced on top. It's actually really good and, no, I have not yet shit myself from raw vegetable overload, though I appreciate your concern.

I made some awful Chocolate Chili recipe and it was not good. I still ate it all, but it was way too gritty with spice and too sweet with all that cinnamon. Never again.

For one of my classes I had to open and check our water meter. I found a black widow in there and nearly shit the sidewalk. If I don't get an A in this class, I'm putting a black widow in my teacher's coffee.

Avocado with tuna and fresh dill. It's my lunch about three days a week and every time I eat it I feel like a nerd. I have no idea why.

This is one of my favorite trees in the spring time and this day it happened to have a very cute truck parked next to it. Yay for spring and old timeyness.

We've had some unseasonably warm spring weather and everyone except Bubba wants to soak it into our bodies like big sun sponges. Bubba just shakes his fist at the sky and mutters something about a traitorous so and so.

Remember Rocket? Yeah, she reminds us of her existence by squeezing into spots that are clearly too narrow for her.

And then by taking up spots that are clearly too big for her and that belong to the dog.

The front yard meadow is totally starting to bloom. 

Remember my 500 new pets? They've been pooping and I've been stealing their poops, mixing them with water and spraying it on my plants. It's the weirdest thing I've ever done.

I keep making Brussels sprouts like always and MAN are they good.

I made Farmgirl's Carrot Orange soup, ate it for a week and could still go back for more. That shit is goooooooooooooo-od. 

So, feeling caught up? I'm so glad. Me too. Sorta.

Anyone up for gardenblahblahblah? Because I've got some. LOTS.