Warm-season vegetable transplants

We're well past our last frost date, and unusually warm weather has jump-started the soil temperatures, I hope. It's been exceptionally windy this week, hard on young warm-season vegetables. I've been too busy to get recently purchased transplants (Lao round green and white; Thai green-striped, Thai round green, and a variety of peppers and tomatoes) in the ground, and I didn't think the soil was warm enough, either for them. I guess I could have checked, but I was still too busy -- largely encouraging other gardeners....

The seeds for the eggplants came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and I hope they produce some of the delicious small eggplants that we've enjoyed in SE Asia. Along with a lemon grass plant from another plant sale, I'm prepared for Asian stir-fries.

I tucked eggplants and peppers into larger nursery pots, getting ready for a weekend away in the mountains, but put most of my tomatoes directly in the ground this evening. I can't say that I'm being any better about careful planning, but at least I've prepared most of my beds in advance.

Next week, I'll be planting squash and bean seeds, but it's a dance, with the cool-season peas, garlic, and greens still taking up a lot of space. Fortunately, in our long-growing season, there's plenty of time for everything, even if I don't have the first tomato in the neighborhood.