Growing Green

Last night seemed a good time to capture some of the "growing" excitement in the basement. As in tomatoes and peppers (and for the trained eye - there's 2 flats of greens in-between). Things are really on a roll this time of year. Almost every day "something else" is being planted in flats. And it's almost time to start thinking about potting up these tomatoes to the 4" containers. All 72 of them!

Tomato and Pepper Seedlings

There's also parsley, cabbage, eggplants, lots of different greens (spinach, lettuce, chard, kale - to name a few) as well as a multitude of other seedlings in action.

Yesterday also saw the leeks and first planting of onions move from the shelter and "fake lights" of the starting tables out into the cold frame.  A cold frame is a wooden structure that has a plastic top that acts like a mini-greenhouse.  For the first few days out there I add a few empty feed bags to the lid so the plants are in a pseudo shade situation to prevent the markedly stronger rays of the sun from burning their tender leaves.  After that - the plants enjoy natural light while being protected from frosts at night.  This process is called hardening off - and although it's early this year, leeks and onions are pretty tolerant of the cool nights when protected in a cold frame.  For those of you who are playing along at home - here's a terrifically simple table that I work by every year:

Recommended Minimum Temperatures (° F)

Hardy	40°	Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, onions, leeks, parsley
Half-Hardy	45°	Celery, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, endive
Tender	50°	Squash, pumpkin, sweet corn
	60°	Cucumber, muskmelon
	65°	Basil, tomatoes, peppers

If you think about it - this gives you a bit of insight into when things get planted in the garden and when things are ready for harvest...  But we are still a ways away from harvest right now (although the asparagus is starting to show it's stalks, the rhubarb is up out of the buckets of compost dumped on them and there are other signs too).  The fact is - like anything related to growing plants, this is a bit of a guideline.  nothing is set in stone and unless it's a really deep frost - most plants can handle a little coolness here and there (except basil - it gets sad and turns black).  As long as the cool nights (or like last summer - days) are not chronic, you should be OK.