Hardening Off aka Toughen Up

My darling little seedlings have been living under fluorescent lights, in a heated basement, with good circulation, plenty of water & tons of nutrients.. but eventually, and soon, they'll need to fly the coop and survive in the great outdoors.

To prepare them for the switch I've been setting them outside for incrementally longer and longer periods of time. I started this about a week before the transplant. First for 2 hours, then 4, then 6, 8, and eventually overnight. Tomorrow... they're going in the ground. Today feels like Christmas Eve.

Transplant & Sow Tomorrow!

We've got a 50x25ft community garden plot to plant all of our edibles, herbs and some flowers. Its been snowing like crazy this year, so the ground has been super wet & I'm just now getting the chance to start planting. The last frost is anticipated to be next week, so this isn't a bad time to get growing.

Our Garden is about a mile away, so I've got to load up the car & haul some gear. I made a list of what I'll need, so that I wouldn't forget anything (fingers crossed.) I also made a "to-do list" .. because thats how we get things done around here!

Items to bring to Garden
Hand Shovel
Shovel
Rake
Hose
Peat
Seedlings
Vermiculite
Buffoloam, Guano, BloodMeal
Camera
Seeds
Plant Labels

Buy Sand
Prepare Root Beds
-Peat & Sand
Transplant
-Greens
-Broc
-Onions
Direct Sow
-Spinach
-Peas
-Beets
-Carrots
-Radishes
-Greens
-Hyssop

Roots like to grow in loose soil, so the first task Ill do in the garden is
1. Locate & Label my root rows
2. Top the rows with peat moss & sand
3. Turn the soil very well
4. Plant my carrot, radish & beet seeds.
5. Transplant onion seedlings

I went out to the garden last week & designated the rows for Greens & Broccoli. I dug up the soil, buried fresh kitchen scraps, and covered it back up. The idea is to attract lots of worms! Tomorrow I will transplant 6 green varieties and broccoli to these rows, water well, add some more nutrients.. and wait.