Gardening Diary Continued....

This was a transplant day. By rights it should have happened a week ago, but it didn't. At least it did finally happen.

I finished transplanting all the tomatoes which have secondary leaves into 3" peat pots. Most of these will be Garden Day gifts for neighbours. I transplanted the Thai basil into 3" peat pots, and all the "greens", the bok choi, broccoli raab, Brussels sprouts, Chinese kale and perpetual spinach, and the onions, were transplanted into their final homes for the season.

As planned, the Brussels sprouts, a single row of onions and one "Sweet Million" tomato plant were transplanted into the bed under the willow tree. We'll see how they do. I put a cloche over the tomato plant for the night. It's only supposed to get down to 4 C (39 F) but it won't hurt to have a little protection. I've added soil, organic matter and organic fertilizer to that bed in the last few weeks, weeded it and watered it. Surprisingly it's full of bulbs, the narcissus is beginning to bloom. Last year a few bulbs came up but none of them bloomed.

I filled three 16" round pots with the rest of the green vegetables. They may be spaced a bit close but the soil is very rich, and the pots are 18" deep, so there should be room for good growth. They look healthy. They haven't grown as large as they probably should have, but it's been pretty cold, and we've had lots of heavily overcast days in the month since I planted the first of these seeds. I was amazed at the root systems on the tiny onions. The leaves were the diameter of angel hair pasta, from two to three inches long, but the roots were six inches long! They were the dickens to transplant, because of those roots. Next time I'll just wait and plant them directly in the garden.

I guess you could say we ate our first fruits of the garden too, as when I thinned the basil I ate the thinnings, and brought some inside for the guys. Thai basil has a slightly licorice-like flavour. Yummy!

Having this many plants out I was able to stand the greenhouse back up, making it easier to load and unload. I put everything out on the lawn for sun today, and will continue to do that until time to plant.

I put bird seed out and now the birds are having their late day snack. Delightful, and at least last year the presence of so many birds in the garden meant that I had no pest problem to speak of. And they provide great entertainment for the cat.