Design

lettuce, mesclun mix, spinach, and pea seedlings A blast of cold air is expected tonight in the Southeast, both in the mountains and piedmont.  My spinach, lettuce, mustard, and chard seedlings should be fine in their beds full of dark heat-trapping soil.  mustard seedlings with overwintered mustards  The tomato, pepper, and eggplants seedlings (transported up to the mountains for spring break) were subjected to toughening temperatures of about 50°F during the day with plenty of wind.  Not optimal, but that's what was available.  They're tucked into the 'mechanical room' tonight, which is toasty because of the Rennai instant hot water system that serves both our hot water and radiant heating system.

Working out in the garden this morning (mostly weeding winter annuals), I was admiring my flats of salad mix, Asian greens, and young spinach and radicchio seedlings. Of course, there are young plants in the ground, too, but the flats are particularly pretty! It's so easy to sow mixes of lettuce and greens in flats or containers or window boxes, it's worth doing even if you aren't really a vegetable gardener.