Waiting, but Busy

Seedling cilantro.

Here in Cobb County, we are expecting a drop down to 26 degrees F tonight, which is a little disheartening for local gardeners. What we all are longing for is warm-enough weather that we can, at the very least, start to move our trays of seedlings out to the porch in the afternoons.

What we have, instead, is a forecast for cold-enough weather that crops of many tree-fruits in the area are at risk. In my neighborhood, many of the dwarf fruit trees are in bloom. If the weather tonight is as cold as predicted, the blossoms won't survive to set fruit.

While we wait for the weather to moderate, there is still plenty to keep me busy. I've moved more seedlings from their original flats and Jiffy Pellets to larger pots; I've planted a block of green peas where the first round of tomatoes and peppers will be planted; and I've watered (!) the garden.

After last year's nearly non-stop rain, it seemed as though there had to be enough water in the ground to last us for years, but that didn't turn out to be the case. My lettuces and assorted other seedlings were standing in pretty dry soil until I dragged out the hose on Sunday afternoon.

Tonight, though, the gardening tasks include hauling "old spikey" (my key lime tree) and my lemon seedlings back into the house and putting covers over some of the smaller cool-season plants that are in the garden. Even the crops that can take a lot of cold are more sensitive when they are young.

Also, a couple of weeks back I went to the studio in Sandy Springs for America's Web Radio and was interviewed for two episodes of the Master Gardener Hour. The first aired on March 15, and the second aired on March 22. Not too surprisingly, Cheryl Lenker (the host) and I spent the whole two hours talking about vegetable gardening!

Both episodes are online in the archives for anyone to hear. I played the first one on Sunday afternoon, so I could hear it while I was doing some housecleaning, and it turned out pretty well.