Nope, no sense to planting early!

I bought some seedlings a few weeks back. I repotted them, watered them and gave them a little food. These are in an unheated solar space. I only have about 8 pots like this. The rest are younger ones I planted from seed. Very hardy looking youg seedlings.

My tomatoes, basil and parsley went in the ground yesterday. The cold hardy stuff like brassicas, spinnach, lettice and peas were in about a month ago. I've harvested kale, rhubarb and spinnach already.

Matt

If not for my solar space, I would be at a loss. I think about so much I want to do, but my getting it done is another matter!
I've got chard in the garden just coming up, and others in the solar space which are up about three inches. I've planted the cucumbers and squash in peat pots. I won't set them in the ground until I can get their place warmed up. Might put some back plastic down for a week or so.
Glad you have some early crops. Sometimes, they are the best pay back after winter.

I've gotten tomatoes off to a wicked early start like that , but in the basement under flourescent lights.
Growing in 10 gallon buckets.

Transplanting them shocked them and the real sun sunburned them.
Pretty much lost all the head start.

I was going to put out my tomatoes this weekend and thought better of it.
It looks like I lost all my plums and all but the asian pears to the cold a couple weeks ago.

I can't wait until Memorial Day weekend like I used to do to play it safe because I'm taking off on vacation on the 28th.
Everything has to be in the ground not requiring much attention.

I planted early this year without issue. My tomatoes have been in the ground a couple weeks now. When it got cooler, they stopped growing, but look perfectly healthy right now. Many are already in bloom.

Plants grown under lights only, most often will require a gentle introduction to natural light. Usally given a few days of no direct sunlight. Small seedlings can be covered with a layer of newspaper if they are to be in direct sun. If they go from lights to being planted outside, small seedlings can be protected by having a shingle stood up in front of their south side.
Tall tomatoes (usually having been grown in a window) are laid on their side with the root mass facing south. Then buried with a couple inches of soil, rich with compost, with about six or seven inches of plant exsposed. The southern exposure will warm the ground encouraging root development along the entire length on the stem. These plants will be very strong and productive. This has always been my preferred method for tomatoes. No need to rush into cold ground that can retard growth and ultimately reduce the crop yield.

There's a huge hydroponic tomato factory in Madison, Maine.
UV lights, bee hives, something like 100,000 pounds of tomatoes a day all year round.
Not California, not Florida, not Texas. Maine. Supposedly Canada, too.

I'll stick with my little hobby greenhouse and traditional garden.

It is all about environment when it comes to growing tomatoes. I've seen how they are grown in that Madison farm. They really have worked out how to do. For my taste, there is no comparison to the tomato grown in you own back yard. Pick them just before they are to be eaten, whow! Like winning a victory over, frost, wilt, wild vermin and many other powers waiting in line to keep you from it.

http://www.backyardfarms.com/our-tomatoes/index.aspx

so I moved the tomatoes out to a cloche and transplanted them into 5 gallon buckets that have holes drill in the bottom. Here is an update with pictures taken today.

Lookin; good save$.
Just curious why transplant into containers? Are you gonna be moving them again? I found growing tomatoes in containers they were more susceptible to drying out in the heat

I don't have acceptable gaden space yet! I have 21 other plants in the garden already. I can keep these right there by allowing their roots grow out of the bottom into some rich humus and that part is easy to keep moist and fertilized. Plus, and this is the big one. The cloche is much warmer at night. June nights in Maine are predictably cool. That is often why we see our tomato plants really get big when the nights are much warmer in July. I can pull the plastic down at night. The mass of warm buckets give off heat and keep the cloche warm.

This is part of my back yard garden. I tilled the lawn under. The white tents are covers over rows of cucumbers. back of them are the tomatoes I grew from seed planted 26 June and transplanted to the garden a week ago. The tomatoes were grown in a solar space with no added heat. . To the right of the tomatoes is a bed of Swiss chard I planted in April, and then covered it with garden cloth. The chard is now about 6 inches tall and almost ready to be thinned out. The garden cloth helps protect from cool nights and frost. It also helps prevent washing out in spring rains. Warmer ground usually means more rapid and tender growth. The cukes, peas, and beans all will grow on trellises made from nylon nets attached to metal stakes and topped with a 10 foot conduit pipe. The netting is attached with zip ties. A whole lot better than bending over to pick the crops.