Here Comes the Sun!

Mother Nature has been somewhat moody lately here in WNY. After a beautiful early spring that saw temperatures in the neighborhood of 80 degrees on St. Patrick’s Day (not to mention leaves on the trees a solid month earlier than normal) we’ve been consistently in the 40’s to low 50's with frosty nights and a lot of rain. The plus side is that after today’s temperatures in the high 40’s, tomorrow the forecast calls for mid 50’s and then mostly 60’s and 70’s all week. The best part is that nightly lows are supposed to stay above 45 after we get through Monday, and even the 50’s toward the end of next week. This is especially exciting because hauling plants in and out on a daily basis is getting old!

Ozark Beauty Strawberry

 These colder temperatures don’t mean that things are standing still in the garden. The strawberries, mesclun mix, potatoes, beets, forget me nots, cilantro, dill, sage, and parsley have been outside for the past couple of weeks. I was a little surprised that the cilantro and dill seemed to take to the cooler temperatures, but I do bring them in almost every night. The strawberries have been outside pretty much day and night for a solid month now, although I do bring them inside when we get a frost warning, which has happened several times lately. It isn’t so much the plant themselves, but the delicate young flowers and berries that I am concerned with. The beets and potatoes haven’t come above the surface yet, so they are protected by the dirt in their containers. 

Mesclun Seedlings and Strawberries outside

Over the past couple of weekends we’ve also planted some new seeds and done some re-potting. Cucumbers, purple basil, squash, beans, chamomile, tarragon, and more chives are in the dirt in the greenhouse room. The squash, beans, cucumbers, and basil are all up and growing very quickly. This is my first time growing squash, and it was about 4 inches tall in about 2 days! Beans grow really fast and can probably be started outdoors, but with all the critters and birds around I wanted the plants going before I planted them outside.

Beans and squash enjoying life in the greenhouse room

Zucchini Squash

Today I am going to pot up a bunch of herbs in anticipation of them going outside once those nicer temperatures arrive mid-week. The greenhouse plants will also get their first dose of a mild fertilizer with their water this afternoon. As you can see, some of the tomato plants are becoming quite large.  

Green Zebra and Black Krim plants

In my next post, I’ll address how I have been hardening these plants off to wind and cold. Until then, here are some more pictures of the garden. Spring weather is just around the corner!

Cucumber Seedlings

Seedling Table on 4/28/12

Purple Basil Seedlings