Spring Hardening Off

 

I've potted up and I think last night was the last frost. I've had a tray of artichokes and snapdragons outside. I truly wanted to get those transplanted this weekend but my husband is racing so we're off to the races. I think...before I leave with the kids I might transplant everything to the beds and to the ground, and water well. We're just gone two days and we have a dog sitter here that can water too so I'm not super worried. I don't have any pots planted either so we're in good shape.

All of these are now 3-4x as large as this photo. I'm starting to bring everything upstairs and outside for several hours. You're supposed to introduce everything slowly over about a week and to be honest... WHO HAS TIME FOR THAT

So I don't. I put everything outside when the temp hits 38 degree or higher and then I set on our steps or in the shade until after dinner. Because that's suddenly when I remember to bring everything in.

I'm also a very terrible seedling caregiver. I'm a person that over waters too much and gives too much love because I'm just so excited to get outside after a winter of nothing. Don't be like me, give your seedlings time to dry out a bit.

Artichokes have survived!

Snapdragons are ready for the garden beds. They're going at the edges this year in my raised beds. 

Spring Seedlings - Artichokes

 

I truly have a love/hate relationship with seed starting. There's lots that I can get to grow... then there's others which I just kill off every single time. I follow directions and I follow recommendations and then what I really want to live... still doesn't. It can be really frustrating.

I'm absolutely awesome at over-watering seedlings. I get too invested in making sure that the soil is damp or moist and then I accidentally water too much and then I need a fan to dry everything out and then my mistakes just rinse and repeat.

So when my artichokes actually germinated... I WAS ECSTATIC. And then I have no idea how to grow them so I've been on a research kick for awhile now. 

Artichokes need a cold vernalization period because they are biennial - to grow from seed you need to put them outside after they have 2-4 leaves in temps that are under 50 degrees for at least 10 days. 

I'm on Day 3.

I first saw flowering artichokes in Colorado last summer, then my favorite gardener was growing artichokes in her garden. I thought it was a sign that I should experiment!

So here we go! I'm going to put 2-3 out front where they can be seen from the street, then I'll put 2-3 in the backyard where I can keep a closer eye on their growing and development. I've never cooked with them before either, so I have a couple recipes in mind. We shall see what happens!