Getting Ready for the New Strawberry Season

Last year I planted the first set of June bearing strawberry plants and since it was the first year I wasn't going to get anything from my plants.  Today I removed all the straw from the plants and found that all of them had survived the harsh winter.  Now that they have survived there is a good chance that this season they will begin to produce the fruit and berries that I am looking forward to consume.  Some weeding was done today as well and wanted to just loosen the soil for some air circulation to the roots.

Most of my plants indoors have been getting enough sun to grow, but not enough for successful flower production.  I decided to place most of them outside especially my alyssum, dill, tomatoes, and rhubarb.  They need as much sun as possible and by putting them outside I am also getting them used to the weather and preparing to harden them off.  This is the process of getting them acclimated to the elements that they will find outside once I place them in the garden for good.

Here is my rhubarb plant that I purchased this season.  I have two of them, but this one was the first to get some leaves and the other is getting leaves, but a little bit slower than this one. I plan to put them in the ground once the roots start pushing through the peat pot.  Right now there is just one root that happened to show itself through the pot recently.

Taking Advantage of Warm Temperatures in the Beginning of April

It’s that time of the year when warmer temperatures will start to arrive and more planting outside will be necessary.  Today was one of those days when onions need to be added to the garden.  I always aim for the beginning of this month to start planting them since they love cool weather.

I also had some lettuce plants that were getting too big for the Styrofoam coffee cups that I had placed them in back in February.  They needed some more space before they went to seed or showed signs of a sickly plant.  I put only four into the garden for now and very soon I will be putting many more once their roots start poking out of the bottom holes.

 

Hardening off plants is the next phase of having plants grown indoors.  Today was warm enough that I could place them outside.  It was not that windy either which made a great day for giving plants some fresh air.

Getting Most of My Flowers Outside for Fresh Air

Yesterday the weather was very good and it was in the low 70's for most of the day and it was a good chance to place many of my plants outside.  For now I am just going to be putting flowers outdoors to get used to the weather.  I will be placing all my others outside maybe in a week or at the end of this coming week.

I want to get my flowers used to the weather as soon as possible in order to place them in the ground very soon.  This is what I do every season and it has definitely worked to my advantage.  Placing them outside not just helps the plants, but it also helps in possibly attracting good insects during the daytime and laying eggs on plant leaves.

I am getting blooming buds on many of my alyssum plants and these are always the first to boom.  Once they start flowering then I know it is almost time to get them into the ground, but for now I will just be placing them outside each day and bring them inside for the night.

Most of the other flowers will be flowering once I place them in the garden, but right now they are just growing as best as possible with the good weather that we are having.  Some perennial flowers are in the garden right now such as my feverfew, perennial alyssum, and even some cilantro has come back from last season.  These are usually annuals but I guess the seeds were preserved and they started growing in the garden once the weather was good enough.

I also have lettuce outside during the entire day and night.  They have been outside for the longest and I am going to be putting them in the garden hopefully sometime this week.  They look ready for the garden and I think once I get them in the ground they should start growing much better.

All my other plants such as eggplants, melons, peppers, and most of the fruits and vegetables will not be placed outside at the moment.  I will be waiting for higher temperatures outside.  Since they will not be planted any time soon I can keep them inside for now.

Adjusting Plants to Outside Environment

One of the first things before planting your vegetables into the garden is making certain that you have given them enough time to adjust to the outside.  This is done by placing them outside each day when the temperature is right for your particular plant.  You will eventually do this for all your plants, but at the moment you should be focusing on your colder plants first such as spinach. 

Since I have planted spinach indoors it is time for me to make sure that they are ready to be placed outside.  I usually wait for the temperature to get above freezing temperatures.  Although spinach can withstand colder temperatures they are still vulnerable to frost like most other plants.  This is something to keep in mind when you are hardening them off. 

By placing them outside for short periods of time they will begin to adapt to various elements that they will face including wind, temperature changes, nighttime, sunlight, and even rain.  This will make the transition from a pot into the garden a much smoother process.  Take the time to perform this step correctly and you will be glad you did.