I have a mystery for the experienced gardeners. Last year, we bought a set of grow lights from Gardener's Supply. The idea was to grow spinach and lettuce inside over the winter. Neither did well, and my husband assumed it was a soil issue, so he tried again. Results were still not good, even after he adjusted the height above the plants.

This spring he put tomato plants he had started under the grow lights. They did not grow, just sat there. He finally moved them outside. It took a couple of weeks, but they finally seem to have started growing.

He is now using the grow lights for his little trees, and they are thriving with the grow lights. That is good, since it would otherwise have been a waste of money. For some reason, the vegetable plants do not thrive under the kind of light they produce.

Lots of things to think about when gardening! My lettuces do great inside under gro lights, all winter. Not quite as lush as lettuce grown outside in May-June, but still excellent. Remember that lettuce is a cool weather crop, so check your indoor temps. 70* is great for sprouting seeds, but too warm for growing great lettuce. Also, think about the soil in your pots. This was new learning for me last year when I started growing so many veggies in planters on the deck. Dirt from the garden is not a good choice for planters. It is too heavy and doesn't drain well. I mix mine with composted horse manure and my own compost, about 1/3 each, although a little more of the compost, and it seems to work OK. There is also a difference between potting soil and seed starting soil that you buy in bags. I also wonder if any professional studies have been done with the different kinds of gro lights?

I saw two snow peas on one of the plants tonight. It also looks like there might be a green bean or two. The tomato plant I bought at the farmers' market has grown and is flowering. The two that were stunted by the grow light--or did not get what they needed from the grow light--are now growing, but they are small. The honey-nut squash plants may be about to bloom.

Just turned the water to the garden off, and hoping for thunder storms and then 4-6 hours of rain tonight. We are in a pretty significant drought area here. I have one head of broccoli picked for a salad tomorrow night. I've been pulling onions from a pot on the deck, that I started onion sets in months ago. The cherry tomato on the deck has a lot of green tomatoes. The lettuces continue to do well, and I've started more seeds this week for another crop. The weather is not great for gardening -- we have swings from 95 during the day to 45 at night, and on June 18, my grand-daughter's wedding day, the high temp was only 53. In Vermont now, it's typically around 80 during the day, and about 65 at night.