It's been a very productive day. I woke up at 9am, and I've been working outside ever since. I picked out a small plot of my yard to till so that I can finally plant some things in-ground as opposed to pots or a garden bed.

First I picked a plot of land that didn't have any pipes running underneath and that got plenty of sun during the day.

It took me an hour or two, but eventually I tilled it using a shovel since I didn't have a hoe |no hoes :(|.

All that was left after that was to punch a few holes in and fill them with seeds. I planted daikons, beets, swiss chard, and three rows of sweet corn. After that I covered it all with hay to help keep in the moisture (and so I don't have to water as much) and watered it all by hand because my water hose is broken (just like Stardew Valley)

It feels great to do something like this without any help or instructions, and after all that physical labor it makes you feel super relaxed. I'd even go to say that hard physical labor is one of the best forms of meditation.

Took a picture of an egg my chickens laid but I never posted it, so here it is! I guess my chickens lay green eggs

Today is probably the most beautiful day of the year so far, so I've spent most of it finally getting my garden ready for this year. Here are some pictures that I took of everything that I've got so far:

I collected some dandelions to make dandelion salad. I battered and fried the blossoms and it was surprisingly good. I'd definitely recommend it as an early spring snack. It turned out that I picked the wrong greens though. Apparently you're supposed to pick the young greens because they get bitter as they grow, so I couldn't really eat them without gagging. Maybe I'll try making dandelion wine at some point, which you make with the blossoms, or dandelion tea, which you make with the roots.

Cleared all of the weeds out of my garden bed and was surprised to find that some of my peas survived, along with the garlic plant on the far right side. Underneath, I planted four potatoes that had begun to sprout, and I fed the other two to my chickens.

Started the germination process with a bunch of seeds I had stored. In the top I have 12 tomato plants, the one below has three cherry trees, three watermelons, three raspberries, and three cayenne peppers. The small planter on the left has a hemp plant. Hopefully they'll all do well, if so I'll post more of them as they grow.

All the seeds that I have so far. The ones on top of sticky notes are ones that I've collected rather than ones I've bought. You probably can't read them, but I have snapdragons, morning glories, peas, corn, wildflowers, sage, sunflowers, dill, amaranth, cayenne peppers, 2nd gen peas, raspberries/blackberries, 2nd gen pumpkin, 2nd gen watermelon, 2nd gen sunflower, swiss chard, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, two more varieties of sunflowers, moss roses, carrots, pumpkin, watermelon, 3rd gen tomatoes, plum tree, and cherry tree. Not shown but I also have poppies and hemp.

Plants I'm Currently Growing:

• Aloe Vera
• Thyme (I think it's dying though)

Plants I Want to Grow:

• Blackberries
• Luffa
• Morning glories
• Passionfruit
• Snapdragons
• Strawberries
• Wildflowers
• Tomatoes

My two year old pineapple plant died :( This winter has been exceptionally harsh, and I suppose it just couldn't handle it. I should've known, pineapple plants can't handle temperatures under 50 degrees. This past week it's been below freezing every day. I'm not sad though, it was two years well spent, even if I didn't get a pineapple out of it. It was the first plant I ever attempted to grow and it lasted two years, so I still see it as a success. This spring I'll be growing my third generation of tomatoes. I've been collecting the seeds from each of my tomato harvests for two years now, so I'm excited to see how many tomatoes I'll get this year. Last summer I got six, and the summer before I got two. In the past I only kept one tomato plant in a pot, but now I'm thinking of planting a row of them in the ground to maximize my harvest. I'm nowhere near self sufficiency, but I learn more and more each year. Now that I have a stable income, hopefully I'll be able to do a bit of landscaping and work on the appearance of my garden rather than pure functionality. As with all things though, utility comes first, aesthetics follow.