Cottage Farming

We knew that this first year of our garden would be a learning experience. We’ve already learned a lot about what to do, what not to do, and what to do better next time. Regarding this latter category, next time we plan to transplant a newly sprouted seedling into the garden, we’re going to make use of a cloche.

And what is a cloche, you may ask? It’s a low transparent cover put over young plants to protect them from cold. They take many forms, from an arched structure covered in clear plastic, to small bell jars over the seedlings. Gayla Sanders has a great “how to” on making your own seedling starter and cloche from clear plastic drink bottles.

While it’s possible we’ve already lost the seedlings we tried to transplant, we covered the struggling plants with just such a bottle as Sanders suggested. It’s still a bit early to say for sure… but I have a feeling we’re going to need to resort to purchased plants for this one. Lesson learned for next time.