And be sure to make a note of your starting date this year in your journal so that next year you'll remember to wait a couple of weeks longer on semi-hardies. ;) On the hardening off - in and out and in and out for a day or so is fine but much longer and it just defeats the purpose of hardening off so it's best to either wait until they can safely remain out all the time after the first day or so or build your self some sort of sheltered/protected place for them outside. Under a porch, near the house foundation, out of the wind and direct sun, etc. Might also want to consider plastic cloches out of pop bottles or milk jugs if all else fails. Good luck with the seedlings. Dave

We usually hit 24 or so degrees every year, 19-21 degrees every few years, and between 15-17 degrees every 15 or so years, and our winters are usually really wet, if this information helps!

@6:00 am this morning it was 26 and dropped down to 25 right at sunrise. Thank goodness it did not get down to the forcasted lows, I just checked on my citrus trees and it looks like the frost cloth saved them so far, and my blooms look alright too. It is above freezing as I write this, just one more night and it will begin to warm up.

I've heard that you can plant "decoy" plants like mulberries to remove the pest pressure on the fruit you're trying to grow. I've just planted a few dwarf mulberries; we'll see how that works out. I have a Stella cherry, and it's fruited (not well) in the past. Japanese beetles are very attracted to it, and many other fruits I have growing. I have a big Japanese beetle problem where I live, so this past fall I spread some milky spore. It is an all-natural substance that affects the larvae, and hopefully will also discourage the number of moles. It stays in the soil and actually increases its effectiveness over time. It is very expensive, but will be cheap if it works and is something that I don't need to re-apply. You have to put a tsp. down every four feet in a grid pattern across your property. It sounded harder than it actually was. I got three large boxes of the stuff and it was about $100 a box. I'm hoping to see some cherries this upcoming year. I told myself that I would not prune the tree this winter and see how that affects it. I may have been cutting off most of the fruiting wood! I also haven't sprayed with anything other than Neem oil, which in my experience, was worthless. I have to find out more about copper spray and Kaolin clay spray...