Hardening

Just wanted to confirm that I began hardening the Bok Choi outside for 2 hours.  It was an overcast day, with light drizzle that made it easy for the plants to start the journey outside.

Tomorrow, I will extend their stay into the evening, probably from 5 to 8pm.

the other plants are doing remarkably well, and the garden center starts are almost mature.  I mumbled something about waiting 2 weeks before harvesting, but I am nipping off outer leaves of the butter crunch lettuce already.

My replacement plugs arrived in the mail, and I purchased seeds to start in the Aerogarden.  This is the dilemma:  a package of seeds costs between $1.50 and $2.50.  With my limited garden space, I only have room for 5 or 6 tomato plants, total.  And when you consider the varietes, I really only need 1 or 2 cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, beef steaks, and so on.  So I could spend $2.50 on my cherry tomato seed pack and then look at another 6 weeks of hopeful watching, tending, and transplanting, or I could pay $3.50 for a really nice and good sized nursery plant and start it directly in the garden when growing conditions were optimal.

If I was going to plant 20 paste tomatoes for my tomato sauce kitchen factory, it would absolutely make sense to start them from seed.  But if I only need 2 roma tomatoes for my garden this year, it might make sense to go to Home Depot and pick out one or two of the best, even if they are at a premium price.

Much of this answer depends on how easy it is to start seeds in the Aerogarden.  With the limited success I was having with the Jiffy pots, this was an open question, and the Minimalist Gardener in me had no trouble providing an answer;  let the garden center take the risk.  But considering how easy the Aerogarden started my leafy greens (bok choi and swiss chard) and how eagerly they took to transplanting in 3" pots and from there to the raised beds, it might be a simple decision to make after all.

This first test with tomatoes and peppers will be very informative.