The first geese

It must be Spring. The calender says it is, but looking outside my window it doesn't seem that way. All I see is snow...and more snow. But the signs are there. Yesterday the first 3 geese flew over our house, and today one lonely goose made an appearance. The fools! Why don't they stay a little longer where it is warm and where there is no snow? But I guess, they are thinking positive. The snow must disappear some day and there will be grass to nibble on. Hard to believe that it will be so.

I'm thinking positive. At the beginning of March I seeded 72 small containers with pepper seeds inside growing trays. I put them over my 100 gallon aquarium to sprout. It is a perfect place. Always warm and moist. To my surprise, all of the seeds have sprouted and now the plants are about 3 inches tall. Of course, I removed the covers from the trays. I also culled the plants. Originally I put 3 seeds into each container. Now I have only the strongest plants in there. In a way I'm afraid I'm a bit too early, because once they reach a certain height, I want to take them out into our sunroom where I put a shelving unit for them. However, it is only a 3season room, which means not insulated, and the temperature has been dipping way below zero during the night. In fact, tomorrow it is supposed to get only minus 7 during the day. The heater I have in the sunroom cannot handle the cold like that. And pepper plants like it warm. The earliest I can plant them into the garden where we live is by the end of May or even beginning of June. That's still a long time away. I don't want the plants to get too spindly. I still haven't figured out a way how I can keep them short and fat. There is not much information about that on the internet. They tell you how to grow them but not how to keep them from getting spindly. One good thing, when you transplant them outside, you can dig them in deeper and bury most of the stem in the ground where they will grow roots. Just like the tomato plants.

Speaking of my aquarium. I purchased 4 Opaline Gouramies and 2 Pearl Gouramis last week. One of the Pearls already kicked the bucket. The little corpse is in the freezer to be exchanged for a live one at Petland. They guarantee their fish for 30 days. The 2nd Pearl may also not make it. It doesn't behave like a healthy fish should. The Opaline Gouramis on the other hand are doing well. I used to breed Blue Gouramis years ago. The Opaline are just another variety. Never bred or raised Pearl Gouramis. They are quite beautiful and I hope when I get new ones they'll be healthier. They will grow to about 15 cm, which is a nice size. I have a bunch of tetras and a couple of Silver Dollars in the same tank. Plus a large number of Guppies. They don't stop dropping young and I will have to get rid of some of them before the tank gets overcrowded. If it isn't already. Guppies are great fish and I have some beautiful males among them. Besides, I have 3 more tanks full of Guppies.