Raised Beds
The snow has finally melted and the temperature is staying between 40° - 55° F during the day. It is the perfect time to rake out any leaves from the flower beds and clean up any debris from last year's growth. While I was doing that I sent my husband off to a local horse farm to get a load of composted horse manure. I top all my vegetable beds with it every year in early spring. I like to have it down for at least 1 month before I begin planting.
Cleaning up
Spreading Manure
Does anyone else get excited seeing a fresh topping on their raised beds like I do? It won't be long now and the hoops will go on and the planting out of my plants will begin. Right now they are in the greenhouse as I started to bring them out this morning. The tomato seedlings are all up and can withstand the cool greenhouse. I have found that they really do prefer growing in cool temperatures. The stems are much thicker and the roots denser which is great in my opinion.
Hydroponic Lettuce Update
Below are photos of the lettuce I put into the floats on March 4th. It is now day 11 and they are really beginning to fill out. This has been an experiment for me this year. The greenhouse is only being kept around 40° F at night to keep the water from freezing. The lettuce is managing to stay alive in the cold water and is actually growing. I am happy with the results so far and will continue to update on their progress.
Our weather is supposed to warm up a lot this week in Western N.Y. so I will be bringing a lot of my seedlings out to the greenhouse. It is time to fill it up with tray after tray of babies. I just love this time of year, don't you? That's all for today fellow gardeners, stay well.
Here is a link to the Hydroponic LettucePost if you are interested.
Until next time, this is Sunscape
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