seedling steps

The first set of seedlings are moving up in the world. Time to transplant into a more coherent and spacious intermediary arrangement, the last before they brave the cool spring weather. Seeded flats are scooped out by hand and separated carefully (as little root disturbance as possible behooves the hungry gardener). Spacing is approximate; about 2 inches for each plant will provide ample room until they're planted in the garden. In a 10"x 20" flat that is 50 seedlings. More than your typical urban garden can accommodate, but there's always the opportunity to spread the love to neighbors or else rouge plants not showing vigor. The planting media for the transplants is mostly compost, with some peat and perlite and some added granulated organic fertilizer to induce rapid growth. These coles and greens are hardening off in the greenhouse as they prepare for their next step on the journey. As soon as it stops raining long enough to do a little digging...

Cold frame reappropriation

Now that the growing season is in full swing I no longer need the cold frame to acclimatize seedlings, so have decided to conduct a little experiment involving peppers and eggplants. On the tall side of the frame (the back) I planted two peppers (of which are either jalapeno or lady bells, they weren't labled), a black eggplant, and an eggplant hybrid directly into the ground. The plants are spaced approximately 12-15" apart. Since we've had spectacular late spring weather these past few weeks I intend to keep the windows placed on top of the frame in a way such that they allow adequate ventilation but still help to transmit extra heat directly into the soil and the plants. Leaving the frame shut completely would surely spell disaster, as I would be unable to regulate the temperature at all and the plants would most likely get fried.

A picture of the newly planted peppers (left) and eggplants (right). As the plants grow I will probably have to remove the windows entirely to allow them to keep growing skyward, but for now they should reap the benefits of the additional heat that plants in the solanum family love so much.

There is a space between the windows about 8" wide and a strip along the entire front face of the frame to allow ventilation.

Cloche!

I spent nearly nearly 7 hours in the garden yesterday, transplanting, weeding, and finishing construction on the cloche. Rather than look up plans on the web I opted to wing it. The process itself was not overly complicated, once I figured out how to affix the front and back supports it was only a matter of fitting all the pieces together. Here's what it looks like:

The materials I used are as follows:

-7 pieces of 1/2" pvc pipe, 10 feet long
-4 elbow joint fittings with 1/2" openings
-4 1/2" 'T' fittings for intermediary connections
-1 roll of 3.5 mil plastic (measuring 10' x 25') to serve as covering
-4 2" wood screws
-1 4' length of 5/8" wooden dowel rod
-4 wooden stakes

Any hardware store ought to have all these parts. Four pieces of pvc pipe are first cut down to 9'. These will serve as the arches. To build the front and back arches, two pieces are cut from one of the remaining 10' pieces, each to 4'. These will lay on the ground and hold the arch in place and prevent flexing. Since the elbow joint fittings I found only have a 1/2" opening on two of the three sides, I was forced to get creative to determine how I would fit the 4' piece into the side with the slightly smaller opening. This is where the wooden dowel rod comes into play. First I drilled a pilot hole into the fitting using a bit approximately the same width as the wood screws:

A 3" piece of the dowel rod is fitted into the opening in line with the drilled hole. Trust me that a 5/8" dowel will fit into an opening that a 1/2" pvc pipe won't. It just takes a little persuasion. A 1/2" piece of dowel will be too narrow. The dowel should fit all the way to the back of the elbow. Now a screw can be drilled into the dowel. The dowel will protrude from the elbow about 1 1/2", like so:

Now the 4' length may be fitted over the dowel:

The same is done on the other side of the 4' piece, and is replicated for the remaining piece and elbow joints. From the remaining 2 pieces of 10' pvc, six 3' pieces are cut. These will serve as the flat lengths connecting the four arches. Connect 3 of the pieces using the 'T' fittings, then connect these pieces to the two 4' lengths. It should look like this:

The four wooden stakes are pounded into the ground at the four 'T' fittings to prevent the arches from flexing once they are inserted. After the stakes are secured the 9' pieces may be inserted into the fittings:

Almost done now!

Next a length of plastic is cut from the roll. The roll is 10' wide by 25' long. I cut a 15' piece so that I could use the extra length to somehow rig up a covering for the front and back, which I still have yet to refine. The plastic is tucked underneath the pipe against the ground and then duct taped to the pipe. This will probably be a temporary solution until I can figure out something better. It is important to note that there is nothing actually holding the cloche to the ground, it is simply resting there. I most likely will have to find some spare tent stakes or other scrap that can be driven into the ground and used to hold the pipes from being ripped up by a particularly strong wind. Once the cloche is finished it can be planted. I planted two rows, each about 10" from the edge, which will allow me to walk (crawl) in the middle of the cloche and provide adequate space for the plants to grow:

On the left, a row of tomatoes, and on the right eggplants and peppers. I will have to closely watch the temp inside the cloche, as I imagine it will be quite easy for it to scorch the plants if not closely monitored.