I'd like to tell you that I've got the entire garden planted! Well I would LIKE to tell you that.... Alas, I cannot. We got yet another freeze night before last along with around another inch or so of rain. The tornado's were off to our Northeast and we were lucky to just get some high winds and torrents of rain. I think the drought for this area just might be over now.
Those of you who've been following along for awhile might remember that since we moved here to Oklahoma we've been experiencing weather records. And not the good ones either! Rack another record breaker up for me here. The freeze two days ago was the coldest overnight temp for this late into April. Our last frost date is supposed to be April 15th.... Uhmmmm... not this year.
I've been trying not to stress over not being able to be out gardening. Wondering if it's safe to plant yet, I'm sure glad I waited. The neighbor wasn't so lucky. She'd set her tomato plants out a couple of weeks ago one day when the sun was deceptively shining. Three days later it froze. Then, just to be sure, it froze again the next night. Needless to say she will have to replant those tomato's. That kind of reminded me of the freaky early frost we had the first part of October last year. Just bad enough the first night to shock everything, and one more time the next night just to make sure what wasn't dead before is now. Gotta love gardening, eh?
I can't blame her for wanting to plant. Honestly? I did the same thing earlier this week. Monday here was beautiful and I couldn't stand it so I waded out into the muddy garden and set out about 20 tomato plants. Then I happened to hear the weather forecast on the radio saying it might freeze towards the end of the week. Well CRAP!!!! All's well though, we covered up the tomato's and they are ok. Everything else is still sitting in the greenhouse. It's even muddier out there now than it was before so I'm resigned to wait until it dries up enough to work in.
I did have a "Duhhh" moment the other day. The back of every pack of seeds gives instructions for planting. One of the first things most say is " Plant in the spring, after all danger of frost is gone." OK... I'm waiting.....
LOL! That's why they say it's the AVERAGE last frost date. Patience grasshopper, patience. You don't want your garden seed to rot in the ground because it is cold and wet.
ReplyDeletere: your frost problem - do you buy your milk in plastic bottles? If so, why not rinse it out, then cut the the bottle in half, plant your seedling outside, and then cover with the haved plastic bottle sections. That way your seedling wiill have a chance to spread it's roots in the garden, instead of being cooped up in a seedling tray.
ReplyDeleteThe empty bottles pieces will store on inside the other when you don't need them anymore this season :)
I usse this method in order to foil those thieving, hungry field mice so that my seedlings get a head start :)
SCI,
ReplyDeleteI'm dying to get outside to plant seeds and seedlings too. This weather is so unpredictable, the weatherman just stated prepare for more storms on Tuesday. The temperatures for the week are promising, nothing below 39 degrees here. It looks like I will start my planting tonight or tomorrow.
Thank God you covered your tomatoes up before they froze. Have a wonderful weekend!!! Hopefully, you'll be able to get outside and start planting soon.
I hear you on the weather being crazy. We got 4 inches of rain the other day which had a lot of places flash flooding around here, sadly an elderly lady died when her car was swept away. My tomatoes are in the basement under lights yet and I still haven't gotten one single thing planted. All my other seedlings are on the front porch (covered). Our last frost date was April 15th too...I am just going to wait until the beginning of May and see what that holds before tomatoes and peppers come out. Soon, very soon the garden season will be here. :)
ReplyDeleteSci,
ReplyDeleteThis is off topic but I just bought a small 12 volt dc fridge at Big Lots for $20.00. I have test out the cooling function with one of the small 12 volt battery packs for jumping car batteries via it's DC plug and it works! This little fridge/warmer would be great for keeping meds like insulin chilled if the power goes out or in a bugout situation.
I'm trying to get this info out to as many preppers as I can and you have a much larger following than I do so that's why I'm giving you a heads up!
Thanks alot
Jamie