Hardening off the Tomato Seedlings

Our tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings were planted in early January and have been growing under a heat lamp since that time.  I have them on top of the cabinet that sits directly above the washer and dryer in our utility room.  It stays nice and warm in there.  I've been babying them and making sure that they are always watered.  I have a 4 foot shop light that normally hangs above my work bench in the garage that has been providing them light.  It has been on for two months now! Time to turn it off.

I decided to move the little plants out to the back patio to start the 'hardening off process.'  This is a process to acclimate them to the outdoors gradually rather than putting them in the ground immediately.  This would shock them and they will be more susceptible to windburn, sunburn, breakage, and ill-effects of colder weather than they've been accustomed to.

Seedlings under the grow light

Here's my plan:  You might remember last year I posted here about how I made a cold frame using old wooden windows that someone was throwing away.  I got these down from the attic and set it up on the back patio and moved the seedlings into the cold frame.  It is out of the direct sun, but with all the glass, provides lots of natural light.  The windows keep the wind from blowing on the plants and the top provides 'some' insulation to keep it from getting too cold.

I'll leave them like this for a week and then move them out into the direct sun for a few days.  Then I'll plant them directly into the garden once I'm pretty sure the danger of frost has past.  Next week (March 20th) is the first day of Spring, so I've got the fever to get these in the ground.

In the cold frame

Here is a view of the whole thing.  Two of the windows are hinged together, forming an "L" when you unfold them.  You simply unfold them and put them together and put the single window on top and you're good to go!

Getting acclimated to the outdoors

I did this Sunday afternoon and while I was doing it, I started thinking about getting a little head start on my other Spring planting, but I'm still a little leery of frost and don't want the frost to kill my little plants.  So I figured this year I'd get all my squash, cucumbers, and melons planted in seed pots.  Then once the danger of frost is past, I'll replant the seedlings into the garden.  I gathered all my seeds on my workbench and got busy.

Different types of squash for 2014

In no time at all I had two flats planted.  Here's one of them:

Squash is Planted!

It's really funny how your mind works.  I was thinking about squash while planting seeds and all of a sudden I thought of an old children's book that my grandmother used to read to me when I was just a little boy called "Mr. Bear Squash-you-all-flat".  Do you remember this book as a child?  It was written at least 50 years ago by Morrell Gipson.  It is about a nuisance bear that roams around the forest 'squashing' other animals' homes.  What a classic this book was!  I can remember asking Grandma to read it to me again and again.

Photo Credit

Man, the picture of that book brings back some memories!  Anyway, the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are hardening and the squash and melons are planted. If the Good Lord's willing I'll get these planted in the garden soon and will take great precautions to ensure that nothing comes along and "Squashes them all flat!"