Early Veggies, What to Do?

Veggie starts, January 20, 2016

      What happened to the warmer winter forecast?  El Nino was supposed to bring us a milder winter.  So I pushed the envelope and started seeds early, maybe too, too early.  I had moved these trays to the porch for more light and cooler temperatures.  But not brutally cold temperatures.  The porch stays about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temperature, so I figure the porch is alright for a forecast low of 18 degrees for these cold hardy starts.  But for back to back lows of 14 and 17 degrees, I figured these flats should vacation for a couple of days in the basement.  Now with the lowest prediction of 23 degrees over the next four mornings, these flats are going back outside today.  Just in time for the foot of snow predicted for Saturday.  That should make for lots of snow reflected sun light.

      The flats are all back on the porch for now.  I believe that the cold temperatures on the porch prevent the starts from getting leggy from growing too quickly.  That is why I wanted to get them back to the porch as soon as possible.

Radishes

      These little plants are Mizuna Mustard.  Despite the mustard in the name, they are really quite mild.  The frilly leaves are absolutely gorgeous in a salad and delicious to boot.

Ruby stemmed Swiss chard