Last week, on March 15, I checked the temperature of our garden soil. I was shocked--it was 82 degrees in the shade. The air temperature was around 50 degrees and I was wearing a jacket. I thought that my thermometer was broken so I found another one and re-checked--82 degrees. We had an unusually cold winter with an ice storm, 2 snow storms, and prolonged cold in the teens and twenties. The next morning I checked again--78 degrees. How could that be?
I usually follow Texas A&M guidelines for planting. They have calculated realistic soil temperatures, optimal temperatures, and a maximized temperature at which few seeds will germinate. For most summer vegetables such as cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, etc. the optimal temperature for germination is 85 degrees but realistic temperatures are much lower. Our final freeze date is typically early April, but sometimes we see frost in May. I usually plant my seeds the second or third week in April. I have to admit that I have serious misgivings about planting my tomato plants in the ground right now. I have a few seeds that I'm hoarding and I'm not willing to risk, but, for the most part, I could lose some of them and not really notice.
A few days later, I planted a dozen squash seeds and put a floating row cover over them. This weekend I will probably plant a few cucumber seeds and if I'm feeling brave, I might put a couple of tomato plants in the ground. And maybe a few bush bean seeds and just two or three pole bean varieties and keep my fingers crossed. And okra, basil . . .
What would you do?
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