Spring has Sprung!!!

Huhrah!! The snow is melting, and the sun is shinning all day long. The temperatures have been so warm that my little tomato seedlings were allowed outside, to sun themselves, just for a little while. And the lillies are just poking out in some sheltered spot in my garden.

Which brings me to hardening off seedlings. These little guys have been growing indoors in a very sheltered and much lower light situation than what they would find outdoors. They cannot be planted out in the garden come the end of May/June, without being hardened off - which means gradually being acclimated to outdoor living. The key word here is gradual. Too much sun will mean a sunburn. Too cold or wet, will mean a chill. But it's not rocket science, and it doesn't take long to harden them off.

I am lucky that I have a fairly sheltered back yard, so as soon as the weather allows, I start the process. The seedlings went out for about twenty minutes in the full sun today. A warm filtered shade spot would be better, and then they could stay out longer, but this time of year, there is not much filtered shade that is warm. You do not want to leave them out too long or they could burn. In an ideal weather world, the temperature would remain consistent in my little sheltered spots, and the tomato plants would be hardened off in a week or so. In reality, they go out for a little bit longer everyday, if the sun is shining, and stay indoors under lights if it is not. The process takes longer, but the end result is happy, tough little tomato plants that are ready for the garden.

Twenty minutes in the sun the first day is enough. Thirty minutes the next day, sixty the next, till you work them up to all day, going in thirty minute increments , weather permitting. And once they are in the sun, you really have to keep an eye on the watering. They will dry out much quicker outdoors than indoors, but having said that, drying out a bit is not necessarily bad. It mimics the actual growing conditions they will face once planted outdoors permanently. If they do look dried up and slightly shriveled, don't give up hope, just give them a good soaking and they should perk up. For all the babying these seedlings get, they are much tougher than they get credit for.

It still early April, and I have many seeds to plant yet, but it's starting. Spring has come, and I couldn't be happier!