Lettuce and Broccoli and Cauliflower, Oh My!

The lettuce in my "Salad Bowl" bed is looking good despite my best efforts to impede it's growth. I have to admit I'm not very good with the hardening off stage of gardening. Yes, I did acclimate the lettuce seedlings by putting them outside for two weeks but I left them on the shaded front porch and didn't get them used to the sun a few hours at a time. All of a sudden they were getting too big for the APS pots and had to go in the ground now! I pried them apart as best I could, stuck them in the bed with lots of compost, watered gently, covered them with row covers to shade them and then left for San Francisco for three days. Thankfully they forgave me and after looking near death and tattered they have staged a surprising come back. I call this my "Salad Bowl" bed because in addition to the lettuce I just planted onion and shallot bulbs here and will plant parsley shortly. That way I can just walk off the deck and grab what I need for a salad.

I've also had the broccoli, pak choi and purple cauliflower sitting on the shady front porch and with a few days of forecasted clouds decided to get them into the ground as well without fully adapting them to the sun's strong rays. I don't really recommend this to anyone unless they use row covers or shade cloth. It's an experiment for this lazy gardener that so far seems to be working out well. I mean who really has the time to be trotting your plants in and out of the sun every few hours for a week? Certainly not me!

Transplanting Tomatoes

I just transplanted my tomatoes into the large APS system and bigger pots. They'll be ready to go outside in the ground hopefully around May 20th. Tomatoes like to be transplanted at least once before they go in the garden. This helps them develop larger and stronger roots. So far, the tomatoes are looking great- much healthier than ones you buy.

I'm also hardening off the caladium, artichokes, pansies, broccoli, cabbage and pak choi on the front porch on the north side of the house. It's nice and shady there and protected from the spring winds that have been blowing. Next week I'll introduce them to the sun slowly. By May 8th I'll try and get them in the raised beds. I still need to buy some composted manure and add to the beds. I also need to get a batch of worm compost tea brewing as that helps the new transplants adapt to the outdoors.