Frustrations of Planting Outside

All year I have planned on planting my seedlings outside this week.  After all,  even though the “average last frost date” is May 15th, the last two years have had great weather in May and I guess I was fortunate.  NOT THIS YEAR.  As mentioned in the last post, I went ahead and planted, even though the weather has been questionable.

All week we’ve had lots of rain and cold (but not freezing) nights.  Most everything is still alive, but I wonder how much damage I’ve done by planting them out so early.  I’ve lost a couple of tomato plants that have snapped off in the wind.  With 52 tomato plants, I suppose it is not a big deal to lose a few!  Most of the week I’ve had the peppers covered with the cold frame and they’ve done well, but yesterday when I took it off and left home it hailed.  There are a few holes and rips in the leaves, but all still seem to be alive and they should recover.  I don’t think the cucumbers have survived, but that’s not a huge problem, I’ll just put more seeds directly in the ground–starting them indoors was merely a head start and not necessary.  The squash still looks good.

Perhaps all will be well and everything will turn out ok.  The garden is looking good, with plants in almost every bed.  I still plan to plant the basil, which hasn’t even liked hardening off in 40+ daytime weather–the leaves have turned brown.  Later I will sow the bean seeds, carrots, more corn and greens.

I’m very glad we’ve covered most of the pathways with woodchips.  It allows me to walk through most of the garden without collecting mud on my shoes.  We still need to finish up a few pathways, but it’s looking pretty good.

There is a nice article about when to plant seedlings outdoors on the GrowVeg website.  Too bad I didn’t read it earlier!  I did grow extra things, I just didn’t save any to replace what died after transplanting outside.

Tim remembers hearing that “farming is the ultimate act of faith.”  Perhaps true.  For those who depend on growing things for their food or livelihood, it would be very nerve-racking.  For me, I can still survive and buy food at the store if the weather turns and kills everything, and I’m still fretting, hoping things will survive the weather and my mistakes.  I shouldn’t worry…for Father knows my needs and clothes even the lilies of the fields.

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