Last Sunday, I repotted all the tomato and pepper seedlings into pots that will be their homes for the next month. The weather was cold and misty, so I did the deed in the kitchen instead of on the deck, where I would normally do so. I managed to keep the mess down to a minimum somehow.
Meanwhile, WS put up the collapsible greenhouse so I would have a place to stash the newly filled pots. I got the pots installed in their new environs but didn't set up the space heater as it was supposed to be in the low 50's for the night. When I went to work the next morning, the thermometer read 42. Great, so I double streesed teh plants by transplanting them, then letting them get really cold.
When I got home from work, the first order of business was to set up the space heater. The plants had recovered from the cold morning okay, but I didn't think they would thrive thru the many more mornings of cold to come. It has been in the 30's, and now 20's every morning since then - in addition to being extremely windy the last 4 days. We have had the woodstove going in the evenings to keep the house warm.
We did get 2.5" of rain between Sunday and Monday, then another .5" on Thursday night, but that is not nearly enough. WS spread manure on the garden area yesterday, then rototilled it in, and there is no moisture in the ground - even after 3" of rain in the last week. Unfortunately all the weather systems are staying south because of the Jet STream - which is also why we are staying cold with the Canadian air. If this keeps up, I'm going to have to water for a week before planting the garden Memorial Day Weekend .
It's really tough to call in the micro-climates that you have in great abundance in your area. You have to really want to grow a garden there!
Posted by: Cop Car | April 29, 2012 at 09:17 AM
We're pretty wet, but that has more to do with the fact that we're only 1/2 mile from a lake and on the same elevation as said lake. My problem is the weather has been screwier than usual here. Normal lows for this time of year is low to mid 40's, and they're predicting mid 20's tonight (course, they did for last night to and it only hit mid 30's so we'll see). My poor plants....
Posted by: Ruth | April 29, 2012 at 10:05 AM