The Ides of March…Almost
11 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Sowing
I was off to a shaky start this year with preparing the garden for this spring. Lettuce, spinach and tatsoi (greens we tend to eat a lot of) were started late January and nestling nicely in their growing cells. I have in the past hardened off young seedlings to prepare them for the colder temperatures they will experience in the hoop house. But I’m rethinking this tactic. Cold-weather crops have the innate ability in their physiology to pump extra sugars in their biomass to prevent freezing of their tissues, as long as you give them time. In other words, if you take them from their comfy indoor environment and shove them out on the porch where the air is 10 F, forget it. They can’t adapt. And…10F is too cold anyway. But that’s just what I did. Three hours later half of my seedlings were frozen. Dead. What a dope! Afterward, I ran an experiment. I planted in the hoop house some other lettuce and tatsoi that had *no* prior exposure to cold. Transplanted around noon, I pulled the row cover over them that evening and they’ve been fine since. Two things here: A temp of 10F is never experienced under the row cover, even in the middle of winter (I have tons of temperature data to prove it). So putting them out on the porch at that temp was a costly oversight. The second thing is the seedlings can adapt to the colder temperatures over the next 20 hours. *That* they can do. So I’m rethinking hardening off plants for temperature. Hardening them off for exposure to the sun is a different matter. But under the hoop house fabric, which in my case is a translucent woven material that diffuses light, it think it’s debatable.
Some of the lettuce and rocket started for 2011
About 50 F today, but it doesn't look it.
Anyway, I thought I’d just share some of all that. So after the loss of many of my early starts, I just planted more. A little late perhaps, but not too late. I’ve got the tomatoes started (Feb 22) and they’re approaching their 3rd week. They will be heading out in the hoop house come April 15. My Tomato day. That’s always a festive time. Keep in mind that’s early for us here in S. Vermont for tomatoes. Our average last frost is May 20.
Sungold, Aunt Ruby German Green, Paul Robeson and Matt's Wild Cherry
Here’s a list of what I’m planning on this year in the hoop house and out:
Lettuce, Tatsoi, Spinach, Rocket, Carrots, Beets, Onions, Shallots, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Cantaloupe, Corn, Watermelon, Garlic, Beans, Cabbage, as well as many herbs.
Young onions in their cells
It was a cold winter this year. We had temps down as low as -16 F. But all was well under the protection of the house. The ground never really gets the opportunity to freeze. If it does freeze, it’s very temporary, and shallow. I had some corn salad and spinach (mache) from last year survive the winter no problem. Some of the lettuce did and some didn’t.
Mache planted last year survived with flying colors
The garden is still under snow, but it’s melting quickly. My next post will get you up to speed on how the cover crops are doing under all that ice!
