Vernalization and Hardening Off

I've read that artichokes need a vernalization period in order to produce well the first year. So one of my seedlings is outside right now experiencing "winter" while the other basks in a warm, sunny window, under a grow light. The websites I read said that they should be exposed to 50F weather for about two weeks. But, of course, they're not frost tolerant so they can't be planted outside yet.

Yesterday, we had a high of 60F and a low of 43F.

My onion, shallot, pac choi, and cabbage seedlings as well as the pansies are outside hardening off. I skipped the hardening off step last year and had a very stunted garden. I'm not sure if it was all due to not hardening off. We had a warm May and then a cool, dry summer. But I'm trying hardening off this year. The websites say 1-2 weeks of gradual acclimation to sun, wind and dryness. I just put everything out in a sheltered spot on Saturday and, so far, have kept them well-watered.

Linder's Trip

I went for the fertilizer and got fertilizer, flower seeds, sweet william, pak choi, chinese cabbage, early cabbage and shallot seedlings.

Our plots were labeled with signs this week.

Dan's garlics are doing great (right). My onion seedlings, however, didn't get watered when I was out of town and are mostly dead. Fortunately, I had leftover seedlings. So I'm going to try again.

Tulips are in full bloom. I have about 30 bulbs blooming.

I was excited to see my lilies up.

I intentionally planted the same seeds in my garden and in the greenhouse on the same day. I wanted to see how their growth compared.

This is the lettuce in my garden. The bunnies have helped keep it nice and trimmed.

This is the same lettuce in the greenhouse (foreground).

The view out the door of the greenhouse. If you look hard, you can see my tulips on the far right.

I harvested some radishes earlier this week and again today. They're still small and young. But who wants 50 radishes all at the same time? I ate both the root and the greens. I need to work on a way to eat the greens since the leaves are kind of hairy and it's a weird texture when you eat it.

Raining

It is 46F and raining right now. For the next two days, it is supposed to be in the 50-70s and rainy. My plants will be really happy. The water barrels were getting quite empty. Now, if it will only rain inside the greenhouse.

Tulips and Daffodils Blooming

I was in Savannah, Georgia yesterday. The azaleas were five feet tall and covered in white, light pink, and dark pink blossoms. For all of the flowers in the city, there wasn't much of a floral fragrance in the air. In my garden, there are no five foot tall flowers, but while I was gone, the tulips and daffodils have started to bloom.

The onion seedlings that I planted outside before I left were worse for the wear. Many are so dried up that I don't think they'll make it. Fortunately, I have some left that are growing inside that I can just transplant to replace those that died.

My indoors seedlings were also very thirsty. A couple of pepper plants look like they're too crispy to live, but I think the others will be OK. I have too many plants for my garden space anyways.

I like this tulip. The leaves are ornamental even before the flower appears. And what a showy flower!

Moth on tulip leaf.

Peat and Poop Pots

It's raining today. A nice steady soaker. I transplanted the tomatoes and Thai Dragon peppers from their starter pots to "peat" pots this morning. The roots were already wrapping around the insides of the pots.

Peat is being phased out because peat bogs grow slowly and we don't want to destroy all of the remaining peat bogs. Last year I looked for peat pots, but couldn't find them, so I tried two types of "peat" pots, those made from coconut husks and those from cow manure (aka the "peat" and "poop" pots).

I preferred the manure pots. Even this spring, I found intact coconut husk pots in the soil from last year. Last fall, I noticed that the roots had not grown through the coconut pots and that the plants in the coconut pots were smaller and less healthy than those in the manure pots.

Onion Seedlings Planted

It's in the 40s and sunny this morning and is expected to get up to the 60s with rain tonight. The trees have small leaves and flower buds now.

This morning, I planted my onion seedlings outside and put in another couple rows of lettuce. It's the first time I've tried succession planting.

Onion seedlings.

This onion is from last year's seedlings. I let it overwinter to see what would happen.

My bulbs have been well-grazed by the local bunnies, but continue to grow. The tulips and daffodils have immature blossoms on them.

Tulip bud.

Hyacinth.

Dan's garlics are growing well.

My greenhouse plots. From near to far, you can see: lettuce, radishes (and barely visible are the carrot seedlings), spinach, onion (barely visible), turnips, and lettuce. I planted everything too thick so, this morning, I thinned the radishes and the turnips a little.

The green house. A few of the gardeners started before I did and their plots are thriving.