Our seedlings! That's right. I have begun the process of hardening off our transplants. Monday they spent the day on the front porch and then went back to their room for the night (at which point I ever so cruelly took their heat mat away). Last night I decided to bite the bullet and put them out on the back porch to be left out OVER NIGHT! I confess, I was nervous like a parent sending their kids off to their first day of school. But come morning, they were still there and looked pretty damn content to boot.
Truthfully, they didn't really sleep out doors. They slept in the back porch. Where the wind and the critters couldn't get to them. The nice thing about our back porch is that it pretty well serves all the needs of seedling that are being hardened to the inclement weather of Minnesota. It's warmer than being all the way outside, but cooler than the house. There is no danger of frost. And I also don't have to worry about them being directly exposed to the sun for long periods of time because they still have a roof over their heads. You see, they are in a state of transition, too much of the new environment at any one time can make them commit seedling suicide. We don't want that.
Over the next several days I will put the seedling out in the yard for a few hours at a time to get them used to the Sun and the air but they will come back in the porch at night. That is, unless the weather takes an extreme dip in the cold direction, in which case I can still bring them inside. I haven't lost all control...yet!
All of this means, I need to start thinking about how I am going to lay out the garden. Because, folks, it's getting on planting time. How that is too look exactly, I can't say just yet. Check back next week and I just might have a peak for you.
Oh, and get this...our strawberry patch is starting to flower...you know what the means!!!
Answer: STRAWBERRIES!!
No comments:
Post a Comment