Mild Weather Returns

Temperatures moderated again today and I took the covers off the garden frames at lunch time. It looks like the plants can enjoy direct access to Mother Nature until Saturday evening when the covers will need to go on again. At that point the temperatures will begin to drop below freezing and stay there at least through mid-week.

The peas that were placed in soak water a couple of days ago are sprouting their radicles (I didn't even drain them until today). Time to make some more soil blocks tonight.

The Tempest

We woke this morning to a windy maelstrom. My first thoughts went to the peas that had just been transplanted during a sunny idyll yesterday. Would they be able to withstand the violent force of the wind? When I made it outside, I saw that they were bravely resisting, but who knows how long...and a frost was forecast tonight. So, I made haste to cover all of the garden frames with plastic and rolled the one container full of peas into the garage. There is something very satisfying about being out in the weather when Mother Nature roars. I was happy that I was able to quickly protect all of the hardy winter survivors and freshly planted peas and go on with my day.

Snap Pea Graduation Day

Today was graduation day for the peas. I enjoyed getting my hands dirty preparing several garden beds and one grow box. I decided to plant half of the peas in a grow box and half in a garden frame (20/20). I also uncovered all of the gardens so that they could enjoy the mild weather. However, the lettuce looked like it was starting to get a bit too hot under the covers and looked even worse after being subjected to direct sunlight. I pulled out some burlap to use as shade cloth and within a couple of hours the lettuce was looking much better. I will be harvesting it very soon. I started 40 more pea seeds soaking in a jar in the evening.

Transplanting

Last night I transplanted the micro-soil blocks (3/4") to larger soil blocks (see how they stick out a little). The tally of successful seeds in the micro-blocks is 12/20 Nash's Kale, 16/20 Toscano Kale, 8/20 Tatsoi, and 16/20 Coastal Star Lettuce.