How has so much happened in a mere five days! Since my first and most previous garden update, I have planted lettuce, radishes, and green beans in my cold frame. Sweet peas are, hopefully, germinating at the base of trellises. I have hardened off my seedlings and seen them survive two nights in a row in the cold frame. And today I put three of my star seedlings, my Chicago Pickling Cucumbers, into larger pots.
My first two years of food-growing failures seem to be paying off this year. So far so good! I had everything I needed to plant and repot seeds leftover from 2020, and didn't buy anything in that regard but seeds this year. All the seedlings that germinated are still growing strong and look healthy.
It's too early to know if my improvised enclosure will keep out all the critters that might find my veggie patch to be a little slice of gustatory heaven, but it is still erect, and needs only minor fixes so far. My expenses on my structures and attempts to combat critter invasions are another story, and will be the subject of another garden journal post.
I like my rinky-dink cold frame much more than I liked my rinky-dink greenhouse last year. The cold frame is much more versatile, and I haven't fried anything to death in it yet, although I came close today. This morning, I found it at 60 degrees at 9 am, and cracked the lids at that time. When I went back out at 11am, it was 110 degrees in there, even though it was still only 60 degrees outside. Now that I know how quickly the cold frame can heat up in direct sun, I'll be more careful.
But there is no denying, I AM PSYCHED. I spend lots and lots of time outdoors, loving up nature's wonders.
There isn't anything better than that.
Here's a quick photographic update of the state of, and conditions in, my 8 ft by 12 ft veggie patch, as of Tuesday, April 13, 2021
page break by @thekittygirl
all photos are mine