Graduates

Several of my seedlings are lucky enough to relocate to pots large enough in which to mature.  Unfortunately I have only a few of these and many more seedlings still crammed into ice trays.  Poor planning.  The weather is warm enough that I'm going to risk moving them outdoors without the gradual hardening-off process normally recommended.  If it doesn't work out, I take a different approach with other seedlings.  In fact, I turned on the A/C this week, so it's much warmer outside now than it is indoors.  One large pot contains 4 radish plants, which still might be too cramped.  The other large pots will soon contain single chard, chili pepper and tomato plants.

Signs of Life

I'm happy to say that I've managed to not fail miserably in my first two weeks of vegetable gardening.  The lettuce continues to grow.  The radish seedlings are looking hardy and the tomatoes and chili peppers have even begun to emerge.  I planted some radish, Swiss chard (Bright Lights variety) and spinach seeds in small pots outside (west facing deck) and I've seen the radish seedlings emerging there too, despite the coolness and greater temperature fluctuations.

Unfortunately, I think the basil plant is suffering a little because it's been pushed out of the best light in favor of the new seedlings.  If I'm feeling especially lucky, I might try to plant a curry seed or two soon.

A new season

Spring officially begins at the end of the week and we already moved the clocks forward yesterday.  I have begun my vegetable gardening experiment by planting seeds indoors for Butterhead Lettuce (Lactuca sativa), Chile Peppers (Capsicum annuum) and Italian Roma Tomatos (Lycopersicon lycopersicum).  This was done last Thursday evening, 4 full days ago, and I am beginning to see sprouts (cotyledons, technically) for the lettuce.

Any plant will encounter several crucial stages during its life and sprouting from seed is obviously critical.  The lettuce seems to be well on its way, so I am now hoping to see something from the chilis and tomatos.  Yesterday I added a flourescent light for several more hours of light to encourage growth.  The seed trays (ice trays) are in an east facing window and we currently get about 12 hours of daylight.  I have the bulb set on a timer for a few additional hours (3:30am to 7:30 am).  If all goes well, the plants will reach full maturity in ~65 to 80 days, but I will move them outside within the next few weeks.

wednesday market

Yesterday we bought a few items, including green-yellow summer squash, green zebra tomatoes, basil and tomatillos.  I've never used tomatillos before so I'm looking forward to cooking with these!