No Apple Trees and Snow

We had a lovely snow last night, bringing the most excitement Steepmeadow has had in more than a week. Almost buried the cat statue. 

I started 9 sweet banana pepper plants. 

Given last year's experience, it doesn't seem to early to start the slow-growing pepper plants. So it's not really just that we're getting anxious for spring to come. Truly.

The cilantro planted last weekend is just starting to show a couple of green thingies poking above the soil.

There is no sign at all from the King in the North pepper plants started last year. This is not necessarily a problem yet, as the package says 10-14 days for germination. We might not see anything until next weekend. 

That said, if we don't see something by then, I'll start another batch. 

The greenhouse is, unfortunately, swarming with fruit flies. The little dirt-bags must have been lurking in the potting soil, waiting for a little heat, light, and water. Humbug. We've got a stinky apple-cider vinegar trap in there, but it is doing a less than satisfactory job. Equally, Zipper has proven unequal to the task of hunting them all down (though he's had some luck). 

Very disappointing news. Having placed a seed order last week with Gurney's, we have a coupon for about 50% off our next order. So it seemed like a good time to get the dwarf Honeycrisp apple trees we've been planning to plant next spring. Here it is, January 24th, and they are sold out.

It's not really the sort of thing where you want to go with your second choice. We'll need to find another vendor, or postpone until 2022.