Okay.  We did get snow for two days last week.  I covered all the plants with a tarp (4 tarps to be exact).  To my rude awakening, I wasn't expecting so much snow.  The snow was so wet and heavy on the tarp causing the tarp to settle in the path on the back side, which pulled it right off of the back row of tomatoes, leaving them exposed to the elements.

Since I had to leave for work I didn't have a lot of time to fix the problem.  I brushed off the leaves and covered the row with a plastic sheet I found in the garage, 2 rain ponchos, 1 emergency blanket (the kind that looks like a piece of tin foil) and 2 extra large garbage sacks.  My garden was 'stylin'.  It may not have won any beauty awards, me either for that matter, but it saved the plants the next day from more snow.  Thankfully I only lost 4 (all on that back row).  

I lost:
my one and only Early girl
my one and only New girl
my one and only Beef Master and
1 Delicious

I have good news though.  The plants I thought I lost in the hail storm, actually came back.  They had the whole tops chopped off, and yet they survived.  So yay.  They are much smaller since they practically started over, but they are in fact alive.

My plants are doing very well in the garden.  This week, however, it is supposed to be in the 30's with a chance of snow.  I will be covering them at night with a huge tarp, to help trap the heat of the soil in.  I don't want them to freeze.

All of my cucumbers came up.  Two varieties of pumpkins didn't come up (Hooligan & Jack-Be-Little).  The seeds were older, so maybe that is why.  I don't plan on replanting those because they also didn't come up last year.  My Summer Squash also didn't come up.  Here again, the seeds were older than most of the others.  So, I'll have to get new Barq seeds next year.  My family won't miss it at all, but I will.  I will see what variety of zucchini my local nursery has and buy one or two.



On the north side of my house, is a lot of shade.  I cleared a space that was weed ridden, and planted the following:

Ground Ivy - hiedra terrestre - variegata glechoma hederacea
Snow in Summer - cerastium (this will get some sun)
Purple Chablis - lamium maculatum
Anemome Harmony Orchid 
Columbine Swan Blue & White
Bleeding Heart Pink
Creeping Jenny 
Woodland Phlox Blue Moon - phlox divaricata
Columbine Origami Red & White

On Monday, the 8th, I planted all my tomatoes, my peppers, and my basil into the garden.  And of course, 45 minutes later, huge hail fell from the sky.  I only lost 4 plants out of 100+ (thankfully they were small plants or the damage would have been greater.)  I did feel panic when it started.  I lost an Anaheim pepper, a tomatillo, my only Big Beef tomato plant, and my only Sweet Million cherry tomato plant.  

I will take pictures of the survivors soon and get them posted for comparison.  The little plants are greening up nicely in their new space.

So far, all of my cucumbers have sprouted except for the little Mexcian Sour Gherkins.    Most of my pumpkins have also sprouted, but I'm still waiting for a few of them to show themselves.  My summer squash also has yet to emerge.  These won't go into the garden until the night temperatures are a little warmer.  

The garden is tilled.  I have two small-ish gardens.  They are about 180 sq. ft each.  Added to each garden were 8 bags of compost, 2 bags of Nutri-Mulch, leaves from last year, and composted kitchen scraps of my own making.  I also had a cubic yard of mulch/garden soil delivered that I use to make my flower beds look nice.  Whatever is not used for that, gets thrown into the garden.  

Hardening Off:  
All last week, my plants were trotted out to the deck, and left in a mostly shady spot, where parts were dappled with sunlight.  Then hauled back in  for the night.  The night temps were still quite low.  

Yesterday, my seedlings received 3 hours of direct sunlight. It was a little hard on them.  I watered them before they went into the direct sunlight, and I watered them again when I moved them to the shade.  I kept an eye on them, looking for obvious signs of distress. Healthy plants are much more forgiving than scrawny and weak ones.  

Today, they will get 4-6 hours, depending on temperature.   I'd love to get them planted on Saturday, but that might be pushing it.  I'll just keep an eye on them and see how they react to more sunlight.  Monday is probably the day for garden planting, if the weather stays nice.   

In yester-years, I've planted them sooner without spending a lot of time acclimating them to the sun.  This just causes unnecessary struggle once they go in and then they require a much longer recovery time.  I would also lose a few in that process.  However, when I properly acclimate them, the recovery time is substantially lower and they take advantage of their new found freedom and get down to business.

You can google how to properly acclimate your plants.  Everyone has their own way of doing this.  You just need to find out what works best for you and your schedule.  My husband works from home, so he is usually the one with the timer and he hauls them in and out of the house, and in and out of the sun. 

My only advice is to keep them watered, look for signs of distress, and DO NOT NEGLECT them.  They are like babies.  They need attention and care, but it is only for a little while.  Then these little darlings will start 'doing their thing' without any hovering.

Today I started my cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash indoors.  Well, they are in pots, but they are all out on the deck.  So technically, it isn't indoors.  

Cucumbers:
   Sweeter Yet
   Sweet Slice
   Sweet Success
   Barese - novelty
   Mexican Sour Gherkin - novelty

Pumpkins:
   Musque de Provence - new this year
   Naples Long - new this year
   Jill-Be-Little - new this year
   Blaze - new this year
   Long Island Cheese
   Harvest Time
   Casperita
   Baby Bear
   Hooligan
   Wee-Be-Little
   Jack-Be-Little
   Some Jacks (seeds saved from previous years)

Squash:
   Barq
   Papaya Pear (I only had one seed left.  My favorite seed companies don't sell this variety anymore.  Hopefully, my lonely little seed will come up.)