Bare-root transplanting lettuce—separating seedlings and replanting them with more space to spread their roots—isn’t something you’d do on a large scale. At Tiny Farm scale, it’s manageable and fun in a simple, relaxed way, like making flatbread, or prepping veggies for cooking. Very up close and personal with the plants. My usual approach is to seed them where they’ll stay until transplanting in the field, which saves time. With this round of lettuce, I was starting five varieties and wanted to see how they all germinated, so I seeded a bunch of each in a single plug sheet, and today I divided them as needed. Some are still two or three together, so as not to tear apart the roots too much, to be thinned later on. It all works out!
seedlings
Lettuce under lights
The first round of lettuce, five days from germination, under the lights. I could have started them earlier: two weeks, three, four? It all depends on the weather, when it seems right to transplant, and when you’re hoping for the first harvest. This year, hopefully young harvestable lettuce is ready by late June, so if I can plant them out in mid-May, great! Some years, I’ve started lettuce as early as February, for planting in April in an unheated hoophouse. This time around, it’s straight to the open field. We’ll see how it works out!
Tomatoes a month in
Tomato check-in, around a month after germination. On the left, the pair of plain, generic-looking seed leaves that come first—they’re still stuck together at the tip by a tiny bit of the seed shell. On the right, the true tomato leaves are taking over. See the tomato grow! :)
Pepper’s eye view
Here’s what the tiny sweet pepper plants would be seeing if they saw like we do, from under the fluorescent tubes in one of the light racks. It has a bit of an alien spacecraft hovering feel. The seedlings would be more pleased with the zillion times stronger real sun, but considering that it still drops down to freezing outside at night, they have to make do with weak substitute sun and indoor warmth as they get an early start on the growing season. These peppers are about a month old, still with only their seed leaves. Welcome to this season’s tiny farming transplant production!
Tomato two weeks in
Around two weeks from germination, and the tomatoes are spreading their leaves and aiming for the sun. These Big Beef are growing together in a tray and will be separated into their own cells of soil, and maybe even small pots, all depending ono the weather and how long they stay indoors.
Toddler tomato
In the spirit of dog years and fast-growing plants, this tomato seedling at about 10 days from germination is a toddler, or maybe more an infant. Root, stem, then leaves push out of the seed and up to the light, and eventually toss the dried-out seed coat aside. We don’t need to be amateur biologists to eat a tomato, but remembering the growing journey seems to add to the enjoyment and satisfaction, just like a pinch of salt!
First tomatoes
The generally reliable Big Beef variety, five days old. Always the little miracle to see dry specks of seed germinate with a little warmth and moisture, and to imagine them in four or five months, sprawled around the field (or maybe, supported), producing a steady supply of tasty, hybrid-perfect beefsteak tomatoes!