Tragedy

Honestly, officer, it was an accident. I didn't mean it. In fact, I'm not really sure what happened. I'm pretty sure they got water, either via watering can or rain. Though I must be wrong. Still, I've never seen things go so fast from this good:

May 27.
.
.
.
.
.
.
to this bad
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
June 1

First Harvest!

We had our first salad from our garden the other day. A nice mix of leafy lettuce, arugula, and baby Swiss chard. Sixty-three days from seed to table.

March seedlings

I planted some lettuce and arugula seeds just under two weeks ago and they seem to have taken. The cold frame is doing its job - even with sub-freezing night temperatures all week. YAY!

(that's my flash drive in the photos for scale)

Lettuce:


Arugula:
(I think I'll need to thin the arugula at some point)

No signs of carrot or Swiss chard though, even with the temporary plastic cover I put on the other cold frame :( (though I don't really expect to see carrot seedlings for a while - they're notorious for taking a long time to germinate)

More sowing

After getting my lettuce seeds in the ground yesterday, I felt emboldened to sow a few more veggies today - carrots, swiss chard, and arugula. I may be pushing things a bit, especially with the carrots, but from what I've read, I think this might work (I am trusting the University of Rhode Island Master Gardening planting calendar - we're not in RI, but we're close and in the same USDA Hardiness Zone). The arugula went into the other side of the lettuce cold frame and the carrots and swiss chard went into the cover-less cold frame, which makes it just a "frame" I guess (BTW the cover got blown off last summer during a particularly blustery storm). UPDATE: Nighttime temperatures in the teens got me worried so I rigged a temporary cover out of a clear plastic landscaping sheet and some logs/rocks to keep it from blowing away. I expect I'll need to replant when it gets warmer.

Arugula:


Swiss chard:


Carrot: