"Normal" this time of year is highs around 60 and lows in the upper 30s. I should not have to worry about a hard freeze this time of year. Heck, 20 degrees is usually cause for concern in January. At least my kitchen water lines didn't freeze up this time.
Mid-February is generally when we can start direct sowing of spring (cold) crops like peas, lettuce, radishes, kohlrabi, etc. But even 20 degrees is too cold for a lot of these. In some situations, sitting in cold soil can cause some of the seeds to rot before they have a chance to sprout. So what does the impatient gardener do? Start seedlings indoors!
I started with sugar snap peas, lettuce, basil, and cilantro. I would really like to be planting radishes, beets, and carrots, but root crops need to be direct sown as the transplanting process will damage the root development.
Those two trays of seedlings have been living on top of my washing machine for the last week. Today the weather got up to 70, so I kicked them out on the front porch. There I can give them a good soaking without worrying about water all over the house.
The peas are in the back, and have just started breaking through the surface of the potting soil. The basil, cilantro, and lettuce are in the front. All three of those are old seed, and while I have kept the seed indoors I'm not sure how viable it is. I'm not sure if I'll see anything emerge, but I did use a finer growing medium designed specifically for seed starting to make it easier for these little seeds.
Fingers and toes crossed.
We have a few more nights this coming week with the lows in the upper 20's, so I guess I'm going to have seedling trays in the laundry room for a bit longer. That also means at least another week before I'm comfortable planting potatoes and spring shallots.
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