Transplanting Concerns

Mother fucking snow.  A lot of it.  Ugh.  It's not like I was going to do anything this weekend, at least not outside.

I'm worried that the peas haven't germinated.  It's been a week for the first container.  They should germinate in 7-14 days, and usually my stuff germinates in half the time it says.  I guess if 14 days pass, I'll just move them some place warmer.

Next weekend, I'm really hoping all this goddamn snow is gone.  I guess I can start hardening off some of these little plants by taking them outside on warm days and bringing them inside overnight.  I think the ideal way to do this is to bring them outside for just a few hours, then a little longer, then eventually for a whole day, etc.  Today I could do that from noon to 6, when it will be 40-50.  Tomorrow's looking a little colder, but still over 40 for a stretch. I'm not sure if I can do this during the week, since they would need to be outside for 12 hours straight.

Reading the Territorial Seed website, they say the Bok Choy will not do well if it's exposed to frost when it is young.  They're actually recommending it more as a Fall crop than a Spring crop for that reason.  I guess they're all like that, the Brassicas.  They taste best if they've been chilled a little when they're mature, but if it's too cold when they're young, I think it just slows them down.  We don't want to have them sit there all tiny throughout April, and then when I'm actually harvesting in May it's too warm for them to taste good.  But, I have these plants now so we'll just see how it goes.

I don't think I'm well situated for fall gardening at all.  So, today is the Equinox, which means the sun pattern today is the same as it will be on September 21st.  It's still relatively low, and behind some trees for a while.  (Maybe I should take pictures; the snow will make it especially clear what's in direct sun and what's not.)  But now, and for the next month or so, the trees don't have any leaves.  In September, they're still 100% leafed out, so the slightly lower sun means a big lack of light on the raised bed.  Hm.  Not a lot I can do about that.

The things that you're supposed to grow in the early Spring are the little baby lettuces and radishes and peas.  I really can't believe the radishes are supposed to be 30 days to maturity.  That's crazy, for something that grows a big fat tasty root.  I've got a container planted with those, and once I see them sprouting I'll start moving it outside.  (Same with the Sweet Peas.)

So, Peas are in three containers, I've got a container with Radishes, I've got 9 Kale starts, 6 Radicchio starts, 6 Bok Choy starts, 6 Romaine starts... I guess I could get a row cover if I wanted to get serious.   Hm, it's not all that expensive.  It's just, do I really want to be that guy?  I'm sure they already think I'm crazy, so might as well lean in to it.

Anyway.  The Kale, Radicchio, Bok Choy and Romaine will all be going into the raised bed, maybe at different times.  What else is there, up there?  I've got a few really nice Cilantro plants going strong.  I'll give one to Mom, for sure.  I guess I could plant some of the others in the raised bed, depending on space.  They will bolt and have to be taken out by June, so that times well with tomatoes and whatever.  Um... I planted two 6-packs of Basil.  I don't think I've ever grown Basil from seed, but Mike McGrath says it's a pretty easy one to do.  I've got the Coleus, 5 fairly large ones, one 6-pack that's already sprouted but needs a lot more time, and one 6-pack that I just started a few days ago.

I have 10 of the 6-packs, so I should be able to account for all of them:

1. Romaine seedlings
2. Zinnias- Giant Flower
3. Zinnias- Cut and Come Again
4. Coleus- sprouted
5. Coleus- new
6. Basil
7. Basil
8. Romaine- just sprouted
9. Creeping Thyme
10. maybe more Kale???   

That Creeping Thyme is the worst.  I don't know what it's problem is.  I started a 6-pack like, months ago, and I got only one that germinated.  I did the same thing a few weeks ago, and again, only 1 germinated.  That's ridiculous.  There must be something very wrong with how I'm doing this.  I guess it is a perennial, and maybe that's a fair trade off, they don't produce a ton of viable seeds because they don't need to set seed every year.  But I will keep trying with this little bastard.  I want to have a nice little pile of creeping thyme around the side of my raised bed.   Oh!  You know, it might be too warm for them to germinate.  It's pretty warm in that room, and especially warm under the light.  Maybe they need some space away from the light to get going.  The TS website says 60-75 degrees for germination.  It's possible I'm on the upper edge of that.  I hope I haven't just cooked them to death...

So the Basil and the Coleus obviously can't go outside until May.  Zinnias can be transplanted "after danger of frost," so that's like, late April, I guess.  Same with the Thyme, if I can even get some of them going.

I should have everything for Spring veggies transplanted by the first weekend of April.  That will free up some more space under the lights.  Well, it will open up like, three of the 6-packs.  And what do I want to put in those?  I could get the Swiss Chard going.  I could definitely use some more Zinnias.  I'll need to transplant the Zinnias to some kind of larger container soon; they're growing pretty fast.

I kept meaning to start some Spinach seeds.  I have some, they seem easy to grow, they're relatively short (42 days).  I'm not sure why I didn't.  I guess I figured that was plenty of time, but it isn't really.  I was also thinking, maybe I have too many different things.  Kale, Radicchio, Bok Choy, Romaine, and I also want Arugula, Mesclun, and Spinach?  The Mesclun and any other leaf lettuce will work great in long containers on the patio wall.  So, all these things will start to look really sad in May-June, and I'll need to figure out what to plant next.