Saturday, 20 April 2013

Hardening Off


The wind abated on Friday and, after some drizzly rain through the morning, the afternoon cleared up with plenty of sunshine. 

I made the most of the sunshine to get some more sowing done in the greenhouse.
Surprisingly as far as sowing goes in the greenhouse I've now caught up with last year’s sowings. Although most have been made a week or so later than last year I’m hopeful they’ll catch up. Most of the seeds sown have plenty of growing season left to produce a good crop they’ll just be a little later doing so.

With much more space needed in the greenhouse for today’s sowings it was time for our onions and shallots to move into the cold frame to harden off or become accustomed to cooler outdoor temperatures. After a week or so in the cold frame they will be planted out in the plot. The overnight low for their first night out was 0.4°C probably not the best of starts for them but greenhouse temperatures at the beginning of April were below 0°C so I’m sure they will be okay.
These onions sets and shallots have come on in leaps and bounds since the temperatures began to pick up a week or so ago. It’s now a question of keeping our ever hungry slugs and snails from munching their way through them. The top of the cold frame is netted for protection from birds who seem to enjoy emptying the cells  of their compost and seedlings.



Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

3 comments:

  1. What a fabulous selection of vegetables, your onions and shallots are looking great! They're something I don't really grow due to lack of room, but keeping the slugs and snails off my lettuces and salad leaves is my latest task. Don't they just seem to sneak in when your back's turned!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sometimes I don't even have to turn my back. I'm still searching for a really good deterrent. Let me know if you find one

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    Replies
    1. Nothing yet, just sheer determination in my 'find and destroy' missions :-)

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