March 10, 2026
Prepping the garden and hardening the seedlings
As temperatures soared over 83º today, I spent the morning walking 5 miles with my brother up at Lum's State Park. It was quiet, snow all gone and only a few other individuals making use of this beauitful state park.
After lunch and a nap, I took out the big tiller and worked on the area I will use to grow broccoli, collards and lettuce. I also tilled the area where I will plant peas and finally, I cleared the area where potatoes will be planted.
In a few days, the weather will go back to normal with lows in the 30's and there is a possibility of temperatures even hitting the 20's next week. I am uncertain as to well to put the seedlngs into the ground, but I will keep a careful eye on the weather.
I went to Lowe's in Middletown, as their site indicated they had some cow manure and soil mix. It was posted at $1.98, the same price it has been for about 7 years. This stuff is ok, nothing special coming from Georgia. It has some wood chips in it and a little cow manure. However, when I went to get 5 bags, I saw the price was marked at $4.89, more than double of that listed on the web page. It took well over a half an hour to get this all fixed, where I paid the $1.98 price, but I doubt I am going back to any time soon.
Tomorrow will be the last day of nice, warm weather and I will fill in the raised bed boxes and prep them for the onions and lettuce. I also want to rearrange some landscape stones into a fireplace, so I can burn last falls tree cuttings.
Quick update on March 11, 2026: I transplanted Craig onion seedlings I started in January into Nancy's raised bed. I put in 70 of them, in rows, about 6 inches apart. I also transplanted some Nevada (6) and Cherokee (6) lettuce that have already been cut once. I am hoping they will grow another round of leaf cuttings.
I did some more calculating, using AI and I am told I only will need about 50 wheelbarrows to move 10 yards of mushroom soil. At a price of $1.33 a cubic foot, vs $3.27 at Home Depot, I think that is a pretty good deal. I am not sure Lowe's or Home Depot will sell mulch at $2.00 per 2 cubic feet this year.
Time will tell.
What I do in my spare time
I am very excited by the growth and health of the seedlings in the "grow room". I am hoping it gets warmer pretty soon, so I can put out the cold seedlings (Broccoli, cabbage, onions) under some plastic and slowly let them harden off.
My plan is to build a modified hoop house that will consist of greenhouse plastic on the sides and netting on top, with PVC tubing and t-posts used to make the arch that will support the netting. I have had a lot of difficulties with insects beating up my broccoli, cabbage and collards. I used some netting last year, but it collapsed during a heavy rain and then I didn't use it in late summer. I did get some nice collard greens and broccoli heads, but it was not a consistent crop.
It is supposed to warm up to close to 70º next weekend, so I need get working on this latest project. Of course, I can't do anything until the snow all melts and the ground gets soft enough for me to pound in the t-posts.
Tonight I decided to double the recipe for my rye bread and it came out super. The bread was 14 inches long and weighed in at 3 pounds 2 ounces. I bought a new deli slicer last week, so slicing up the bread will be easy to do. I will probably cut the bread in half so it will be easier to slice.
In the meantime, below are the latest photos of the seedlings as they continue to grow. I am hoping the Campari tomato plants mature pretty soon, as I would love to see how the tomatoes taste. I cut back the top of these plants, as they are indeterminate and would keep on growing way above the lights.
