Even doing my best to keep my little seedlings next to the lights, it just isn’t enough. They need sunlight and this is about the time of year I give it to them. I use the back bed of the garden as a holding area. I use simple pvc pipe stuck into the ground on both sides of the bed forming little hoops. Then I cover the hoops with a long sheet of plastic. This works just fine for hardening off the plants. Unfortunately, it also creates quite a bit of work. I try to keep the plants covered partially, part of the time in the beginning so that they don’t get sunburned. I will cover them completely most nights to keep them warm. Gradually I will stop doing both of these things and let them sit out all day and all night until planted.
Strawberries planted last fall are blooming now and the garlic is doing quite well. We planted 6 or 7 different varieties of hardneck garlic last fall. I expect a good crop due to the late frosts last year. Irises transplanted last year are starting to bloom and the top set onions are incredibly healthy.
All in all, the garden is shaping up. The beds still need prepped over the next couple of weeks and I still would like to get some piping for watering the garden as well as a small arbor over the north bed.
I’m sure all gardeners at one time or another have bought those cute little plastic plant markers. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive. My favorite plant marker currently is good old fashion Popsicle sticks, which can be bought in large quantities at any art or craft store.
