Setting Out

Some of the seedlings have moved outside! The lettuce is all out in the garden. But this week I read that lettuce doesn't like being transplanted. You're supposed to seed it where it will be. So now we will see. The seed pack SAID I could start it early indoors. I also put some lettuce seed out in the garden for a later crop, or in case the first set doesn't make it. The green onion starts are out along with a few more seeds for those. I think I should start even more. We really like green onions. It would be so great to not have to buy them at the market.

I moved all the tomato and broccoli starts into 4 inch pots with Black Gold potting soil. They've been spending their days outside but I bring them in for the evening. I hope they've been enjoying the sun as much as I have.

Today I moved the chive starts into the outdoor pot with last year's parsley and chive plant. It'll be so nice to have an abundance of chives to throw in to pasta or potatoes.

Also moved the basil starts into bigger containers. Hope they all start to grow. Last year I learned the hard way that you really cannot leave basil outside until the temperature really warms up. I lost all of my basil plants over one night last June. So these basil plants will be spending the nights indoors along with the tomatoes and peppers probably through mid-June or later. I'll probably pot some of the basil with tomatoes when they get to their final pots. That way I can bring them all in together if there is a frosty night in the forecast.

Another thing I have learned is that you can sow carrot and radish seeds together in a row. Supposedly, since the radishes grow faster than carrots, they can mark the rows so you know where to weed. And the radishes will be ready to harvest before the carrots, so they won't compete for space. So this week, I planted three rows of a mix of radish and carrot seed. This is because my four rows of carrots planted about a month ago are showing nothing but weeds at this point. I wish I'd done the mixed sowing in the first place. I hope the carrots do start to grow. I have heard that they can "sit in the ground a while."

I am scheduled to check on the first set of radishes tomorrow, but I think they had a slow start so I don't expect they are quite ready for harvest.

Out front, the bluebells are starting to put on their show along with the forget-me-nots. The cornflower will be soon. It's a mostly blue garden right now but there is some pink rock cress and phlox. Oh how I like perennials and self-sowers! Less work for me. They just grow themselves.