102F, Now 60F

Yesterday it was 102F. Right now it is in the 60Fs.

The green house was taken down today.

The plants in the greenhouse are doing remarkably good. This is my plot. I have six turnips which are taking up most of the plot now.

In the foreground are the yellow tulip tops. I removed some today and left those that were still greenish to gather more energy for next year.

Some of the garlics now have two brown leaves. The kohlrabis are starting to grow.

Transplanted Peppers Today

Sunburnt basil.

I am wondering if the chives flowering is an indicator that the soil is warm enough to plant other plants. I'll try to pay attention to this in the future.

Peas.

Peas.

East side of vegetable garden. My six peppers are planted here.

From far to near:

Bella hot

Carnival mix

Carnival mix

Bella hot

Thai dragon

Thai dragon

I deliberately planted them in this order for two reasons: to keep the bell peppers away from human pests and to allow people to enjoy the beauty of the Thai Dragons.

West side of vegetable garden.

Greenhouse. The big leaves in the foreground are turnips (which thrived in the greenhouse last year).

Tomato Lesson Learned

I always get eager to start planting seeds. This year, I did not heed the warnings that I had read about NOT planting tomatoes too early. My tomato seedlings were leggy with small leaves.

According to my March 26th blog entry, I planted my tomato seeds 6w4d before last frost. Next year I will plant them later. Perhaps more toward the four-weeks-before-last-frost end of things.

So I bought a tomato plant from the greenhouse. It is a variety that I have not tried.

Bonny Best. An heirloom tomato.

Sweet pea in greenhouse.

First garlic scape.

Zinnia.

Before a quick rain shower.

Catching Up

Yesterday we bought and planted:

Tomato - Bonny Best

Cauliflower - Graffiti

Today we transplanted:

Tomato - Beefsteak

Celeriac

Sage

Basil - Spicy Globe & Sweet

Gazania - Gazoo

Gladiolus - four more

Zinnia

We harvested:

Spinach - from outside, healthy & delicious

Garlic - one head that we left in last fall to see what would happen

Radishes - from outside

Lettuce - from greenhouse

Miner's Lettuce - from greenhouse

Mizuna - from greenhouse

I made a trellis with stakes and strings for the peas.

Hardening Off

Day 1: 1.5hr - evening

Day 2: 2hr - evening

Day 3: 0hr - between work/social activities, I didn't get to it

Day 4: 3.5hr - afternoon, partly sunny, calm

Day 5: 6hr - afternoon, cloudy, light rain, light breeze, 65F

Day 6: 8hr - midday to evening, cloudy, light breeze, 60F

Day 7: 8.5hr - midday to evening, sunny, 85F+ (plants got pretty wilted)

Day 8: 0hr - they were predicting hail (which didn't happen)

Day 9: 13hr - morning to overnight, highs in lower 60Fs, lows in high 40Fs

Day 10: 24hr - all day and night, highs in 50Fs, lows in 40Fs

Day 11: 11hr - night to morning, highs in 40s, rainy all day

Day 12: 12hr - day, sunny, windy, highs in 60s, possible frost (brought in at night)

Day 13: 11hr - day, sunny, windy, highs in 60s, lows in 40Fs (brought in at night)

Day 14: 15hr - day, sunny, windy, highs in 60s, lows in 40Fs (brought in at night)

Day 15: 19.5hr - day, sunny, windy, highs in 60Fs. Now, I plan to leave everything outside until planting. The 10 day weather forecast doesn't have any lows below 50F. Most of the highs are in the low 7oFs.

Frost Advisory

There is a frost advisory in effect tonight. We will most likely be spared due to the heat island effect of the Twin Cities.

Trees