Transplanting seedlings

We're upto our elbows in seedlings now - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cukes, basil, marigolds, etc, etc! We counted over 1100 seedlings that are now filling the greenhouse shelves and slats we've set out across the entire raised bed floor area - basically soaking up any sunny space we can squeeze them into. And, more waiting in the house, still under grow lights but ready for transplanting. It was 52C in the greenhouse today, even though it was cool enough outdoors to need a jacket and hat (and they are predicting a light frost tonight). It's amazing how quickly the sun warms the greenhouse and how long the warmth is held - we need to watch that seedlings don't dry out, and remember to open the vents and door during the daytime.

It's been a little crazy around here, trying to get everything transplanted this weekened as we wanted to give the plants at least a week to adjust to their new containers and then some time to harden off before they are sold during our May 22 seedling sale. Luckily, my parents were visiting and so dad was on plant labelling duty while my mom single-handedly transplanted about 500 tomatoes into larger pots! My parents were happy to participate in our farm life - helping feed the hens and collecting the eggs, plus weeding the herb garden and picking fresh salad greens from the coldframe, brought back memories of growing up on a self-sufficient farm in the 1950s for my mom. As it's now May 9, the seedlings have just less than 2 weeks left to grow and prepare for their move to the outdoor gardens around this city! Yes, we'll soon be passing off all these babies we've been tending so carefully since February to their new summer homes...

and, p.s. the fig tree has sprouted it's first fig! Unbelievable! They told us we'd be eating our own figs by the second year.