Getting Ready!

After 5 plus months of Florida sunshine and warmth, we are planning on heading back north the day after Easter.  In the meantime, I hired an individual to seal our rubber roof, as the Florida sun is pretty tough on it.  I have been up a few times to do some spot sealing around vents, air conditioners and skylights, and washing all the pollen off that has accumulated over the last month or so.  

The garden down here is coming to a close, as the tomatoes are just about toast, resulting from being active since the beginning of November and lots of little bugs having fun with the leaves. I even found some birds that liked pecking into my sweet gold cherry tomatoes, so I had to pick them early on.

If all goes well, the plan will be to plant cold crops next year (mostly lettuce and maybe some bush peas).  The lettuce has been just great, as Nancy has lettuce for lunch almost every day.  The black seeded Simpson comes along quickly, but isn't quite as good as the Buttercrunch heirloom.  I can pick the outside leaves on an almost daily basis and get enough for two meals. 

What I did decide to do was to start my seedlings for Delaware down here, instead of waiting until I got back home.  Now, I have no idea if this will work, but I do have seedlings and they will fit into either the SUV or the RV.  A two day trip should not disturb them too much, I hope.  

I bought a 162 cell seed starting tray that is very tough, unlike those one finds at the big box stores.  I hope for what I paid, they will work out just fine.  Overall, I have about 300 seedlings ready to head north, with lots of onions, cold crops and even tomato seedlings.  

The buttercrunch lettuce

Spanish onions

The 162 cell seedling tray with broccoli, bok choy, peppers (not up yet) variety of lettuces, zinnia, walla walla onions, multiple tomato varieties and even some peaches and cream corn at the far right.

These are some bunching onions and Spanish sweet onions. I will take them out , trim them and keep them and package them for the trip north.

We are also hoping to get in line to get our vaccine, waiting to see which will be available to us.  We both will be under physicians care when we get it, in hopes that no unusual reaction to the vaccine will take place. 

It has been over a year now since we last saw our family, other than my brother, sister in law, sister and brother in law.  We miss them all and hope this summer we can see them up closer than video chats.