We decided that it was time to take the proverbial plunge and get the plant starts outside. For a few days, we have kept the plants in the beginning of the cold frame. At this point, it is really just a two foot deep hole next to the cistern...but it provides some heat at night and some shelter from the wind during the day. In addition to these things, we used plywood boards to shade the plants in the middle of the day so that they could grow a bit more accustomed to the sunshine without having to trek them in and out of the house each day.
For three days, the system went like this...pull off the boards around eight in the morning, close the boards around noon, open the boards around four, close the boards around nine at night. Then we stopped closing the boards at night. When we had done this for a couple of nights, we decided to plant.
We started late in the afternoon so that the sun wasn't too hot and the pivot was close to coming around to the garden side. Everyone helped. I placed the plants where we needed to plant them. M and Z weeded around the spots. J hand tilled the spots and placed the plants. K picked up the empty cartons and kept them from blowing in the wind. By the end, we all were planting something. It was great.
We didn't get everything planted in one evening, so tonight I went back out and finished the job. The only things left in four inch pots are the herb starts and the flowers. We'll get those planted in a few days.
I do still need to get the pole beans in the ground. I'm not procrastinating, but I need to get the trellis set up before I plant. I may work on that tomorrow...although J and I may be ready to stretch fence for the new pasture that brings the horses closer to the house.
In addition to planting, I did a lot more weeding. I have all of the corn weeded. They are all about two inches tall now. It's neat to see the bright green sprouts. I have a hard time not singing that country song..."I'm gonna live where the green grass grows, watchin' our corn pop up in rows, every night be tucked in close to you. Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed, point our rockin' chairs toward the west, and plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows, oh, where the green grass grows." That's Tim McGraw.
A couple of notes...
The lettuce seems to turn red after I thin. I think that the more exposure to sunlight, the more red the leaves get. It doesn't seem to hamper growth when I don't thin. But we'll wait a bit longer to see how they do as the plants mature. Oh, I sold two bags (gallon ziploc) of lettuce to an egg customer for $2 a bag. These were baby greens that I had thinned out.
The radishes are getting huge! I have already sold several bunches and still have lots left. Not sure how bad it is for them to be exposed to the sun. I've been trying to push dirt up over the tops a bit.
The spinach is growing great. The rows that I thinned are getting big and are taking on a dark green look. The experimental unthinned row is bright green, although it seems like it is growing just as well as the thinned rows. I may be able to start picking baby leaves soon.
The potatoes are about six inches tall now. I noticed tonight that many of them seem to have shot up in the last two days. It has been pretty hot (almost 90) so I wonder if that helped them sprout up. I think we will be ready to start the first round of hilling by this weekend.
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