It has been a tough couple of weeks to be an urban farmer in Calgary. Snow in late May is not exactly unusual, but when you plant some of your seeds in 20+ degree temps and then a week later there is a high of 3 with snow, it is a bit hard to believe.
However, all is not lost. We planted our cold hardy veggies two weeks ago and they are starting to sprout. Radishes (background of the picture below) have poked up, as has the lettuce, peas, potatoes and carrots. Parsnips are still MIA, which is not surprising given their 120 day growing cycle (versus 60 days for the radishes, which is why we plant the two together).
Our tomato plants look a bit sad but are recovering nicely from the cold weather. The extra moisture from the snow will likely help in the long-run. That is, if the plants are not stunted, which is what happened to our peppers last year.
Our tender giant pumpkin plants and peppers remain in pots so that we can have them indoors at night. They aren't hardy below +5 degrees Celsius and looking at the 14 day forecast, there still is a few days where we could dip below 5. They are going in with all the rest of our plants next weekend though.
We should have our first batch of mesclun lettuce within a couple of weeks. The first summer salad and a chilled Canadian white wine sounds excellent!