Cozy Cold Frame

It has been dropping into the teens at night still but it is time to start hardening off the onions and making room for new seedlings under the lights, time to put the cold frames to the test. I put the onions out in the afternoon when the cold frames would be at their warmest. I let them get one hour of light and then covered with a doubled up sheet. I will keep adding an hour a day to their light regiment for four days then they are on their own. I think I will keep pinning the sheet down at night though as long as it stays this cold to hold in the heat. It has been three days now since I moved them out and they look good (pictures are from today).

I also seeded fifty pepper plants which include thirty King of the North's, ten Shishito, and ten unknown jumbo pepper seed passed along from my dad. All of the peppers are bells but the Shishito is supposed to have a spice to it. It was a freebie from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (they are good for that) and the description reads:

"A favorite old Japanese variety which produces 3" long, slightly wrinkled fruit that are perfect for making tempura and other traditional recipes. Fruit is emerald green color, mildly flavored with a just bit of spice; it really is superb. It is the standard with many chefs."

I also seeded a flat of celery 'broadcast' style. The variety of celery is Tall Utah which is a standard in the celery biz from what I gather and since I am new to celery I like the idea of going with a proven variety.

Next up is everything else that gets seeded inside: tomatoes, asparagus, ground cherries, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and other things I am forgetting I am sure. Although I may start the asparagus before all that so I can harden them off and make room for the mass planting since the asparagus won’t get harvested this year anyhow and the timing is less critical.