Up and Out

It's been a little while since I've had time to post but I haven't been idle, nor have I been neglecting Small Holdings Farm. By some amazing stroke of luck I was able to spend a week amongst grapevines and olive trees in Tuscany eating myself silly and visiting my chum Billie Valentine.  Now I'm more relaxed and fully prepared for a raucous garden season... and I desperately need the exercise.

Hopefully everyone has had time to get a soil test and with some luck, you are heavy metal-free and ready to begin the fun and exciting process of  "hardening off" your seedlings.  Hardening off is the process by which you get your baby plants ready to survive in the real world... like plant college only way shorter and free.

I have had my seedlings sitting on the radiator under grow-lamps and while the plants have been content and growing well, they are by no means ready for direct sunlight, summer heat, wind and cold nights.  Putting a fan next to the seed trays helps to expedite the hardening off process but in keeping with the college metaphor, it's like a correspondence degree from ITT Tech; i.e. no substitute for the real deal.

A couple of days before you begin hardening off, back off your water and fertilizer regimen a little.  Don't starve your plants, just give them the signal that mommy isn't always going to be there with the watering can.  Ideally, the first time they go outside will be an overcast day with not too much wind.  If it's bright and sunny but you're dying to get started, you can rig up a shade tent with a piece of semi-sheer cloth and a couple of well-placed lawn chairs or put the plants under your yard furniture.

Start with six or eight hours then bring them in for the night.  You are likely to notice that the stems already seem a little stiffer.  If the weather is fair the following day, set them out again and bring them in just after dark or if the weather turns ugly.  On the third day, give them a few hours of more direct light, making sure to put them back in the shade if they start to look slightly wilted and if the predicted overnight low is over fifty, leave them out all night.  On the morning of the fourth day, the plants should seem significantly more grown up.  They might not be much taller but the stems should be quite sturdy and in the case of tomatoes, slightly lignified, or woody. 

In New England, we can never count on the weather to hold for four days in a row during the spring so one of the things you can do to make your schedule slightly less dependent on wind, sun and the actual last frost date is to set up a small hoop house.  It won't be up for very long so stick to themes of efficiency and frugality when considering your materials. I used U-shaped bamboo poles, a heavy duty plastic drop cloth, some string and safety scissors to  build my hoop house. A grand total of $0.  The bamboo poles were left over from trellising beans last year and the drop cloth was left over from a painting project a few years back.

 

If you don't have any bamboo poles around the house and you can't get them at the garden store for a few dollars, think about heavy gauge wire, flexible plastic tubing and thin green tree limbs as viable options for construction of the ribs.  The ends should be open with enough plastic hanging over so you can fold the tube closed at night or during particularly windy spells then open them up again during the day.  Keep in mind that the hoop house will trap heat during the day so if you forget to open it up in the morning, you can very easily cook all of your seedlings and set your garden back a few months.  In Somerville, a setback like that can cause a serious problem with late season crops so I set my alarm clock and leave myself notes.

While your plants are preparing for life outdoors, make sure that your soil is ready to receive them.  Pull any weeds that will block light or potentially strangle your plants, apply some compost and assess the pest threat level.  If you notice slugs, put out shallow pans of beer or water with some active dry yeast and sugar.  Slugs also like to be under cover so putting a board over an affected area will create a little shelter for them and you'll know where to find them when you're ready to either massacre or relocate them.  If you notice mice or rats, set traps or deterrents.  Rats and slugs are the two pests that I hunt with intent to kill.  Slugs will eat holes in the leaves of squashes and rats will make themselves at home and when there's fruit to be eaten, you won't be the one eating it.  Rats can also spread diseases.. and I won't even get into the gross-out factor.  There are humane traps available for vegetarians, buddhists and bleeding hearts but if you choose to trap and relocate, burn plenty of gas between your garden and the release site.

Once the plants are sturdy and accustomed to life outdoors and the soil is warm and hospitable, it's time to transplant.  Begin by watering the plants just enough that you'll be able to pull out the whole root ball with it's soil plug.  This makes for less mess and less tearing of roots and stems as dry chunks of soil fall off the root ball.  Second, dig a hole big enough to accommodate the entire root ball plus a trowel-scoop of compost.  Throw the compost in the hole, insert the plant, fill in with dirt, press down gently and voila! It's summer.

Treat all of the new transplants to a nice, fully quenching drink of water then treat yourself to an ice cold beverage while you admire your handy work and peruse some cookbooks so you'll be armed with ideas when the ingredients arrive.