Where is summer?
One of the Tiger's Baseball announcers asked Saturday, "Will we ever see 80 degrees again?"
The answer is, "Not in the next ten days."
And the real problem is, the nights are cool, too. If we were maintaining a nice, even 65-75 degrees, I wouldn't worry. But the truth is, the ground just isn't warming up and sustaining the kind of temperatures plants need to grow and seeds need to germinate.
Percentage of Normal Vegetable Seedlings
Produced at Different Temperatures* **
Produced at Different Temperatures* **
Numbers in ( ) are the days to seedling emergence. Number in
red = optimal daytime soil temperature for maximum production in the shortest
time.
* The above data was taken from a report published in the mid-1980's. Author, affiliation, and publisher are not known.
There is some variation, but soil temperature in the 65-86 degree range is best for all seeds to grow, and we're not seeing those temperatures consistently right now. Seeds take longer to germinate, and fewer plants result at the 50-70 degree temperatures we have been experiencing.
What does this mean?
I dunno.
I am just anxious for my garden to begin showing some signs of life, or my transplants to perk up, but nothing seems to have happened in the last week. And the forecast for the next ten days is not hopeful, either. I can't stand the thought of another "summer that wasn't" like we had a few years back. Yuck. Even if we had some sun, the temperatures would aggregate over time, but we're not even getting that. Meanwhile, I am worrying every time that I water the garden that I am cooling the soil down and encouraging further heat loss through evaporation.
That said, the boys dug in and spent a good chunk of last weekend helping out. Jacob, Zachary, and Aaron dug holes and rows, we mulched and planted, and got in most of the plants and seeds. There are 24 Celebrity tomatoes, 24 San Marano plum tomatoes, eight green peppers, eight cucumbers, eight eggplant, four each cabbage and cauliflower, three rows of peas, four rows of beans, and five rows of corn. The next week Mark planted four hills of pumpkins further down the hill. I still need to get in two cherry tomato plants and nine sweet potato. I just have run out of space inside the garden, and I'm worried that wherever else I put them the deer will find and eat them. Oh yeah, and the four herbs I got to start and herb garden; those need to go in, too.
So the waiting game continues. How long will it tak the seeds to germinate? If the weather keeps up with neither heat (from wind) nor sun, it could be an iffy proposition that crops wii come in at all. And while I am an awfully small proposition on this "farm", I hope it is not indicative of all farms in the area, because there is going to be a serious food expense incfrease come fall if the harvest is compromised.
I know myself. I am easily discouraged. I will have an even harder time sarting next year if this year is not at least marginally successful. On the other hand, if I have a bad year out the gate and success forever after, that could be a good thing.
Just hoping and praying for some warmer weather, and soon, so that the plants get a good start.
| Crops | 32ºF | 41ºF | 50ºF | 59ºF | 68ºF | 77ºF | 86ºF | 95ºF | 104ºF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asparagus | 0 | 0 | 61(53) | 80(24) | 88(15) | 95(10) | 79(12) | 37(19) | 0 |
| Beans, lima | 0 | 0 | 1 | 52(31) | 82(18) | 90(7) | 88(7) | 2 | 0 |
| Beans, snap | 0 | 0 | 1 | 97(16) | 90(11) | 97(8) | 47(6) | 39(6) | 0 |
| Beets | 0 | 53(42) | 72(17) | 88(10) | 90(6) | 97(5) | 89(5) | 35(5) | 0 |
| Cabbage | 0 | 27 | 78(15) | 93(9) | 0(6) | 99(5) | 0(4) | 0 | 0 |
| Carrots | 0 | 48(51) | 93(17) | 95(10) | 96(7) | 96(6) | 95(6) | 74(9) | 0 |
| Cauliflower | 0 | 0 | 58(20) | 60(10) | 0(6) | 63(5) | 45(5) | 0 | 0 |
| Celery | 0 | 72(41) | 70(16) | 40(12) | 97(7) | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cucumber | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95(13) | 99(6) | 99(4) | 99(3) | 99(3) | 49 |
| Eggplant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21(13) | 53(8) | 60(5) | 0 | 0 |
| Lettuce | 98(49) | 98(15) | 98(7) | 99(4) | 99(3) | 99(2) | 12(3) | 0 | 0 |
| Muskmelon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38(8) | 94(4) | 90(3) | 0 | 0 |
| Okra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74(27) | 89(17) | 92(13) | 88(7) | 85(6) | 35(7) |
| Onions | 90(136) | 98(31) | 98(13) | 98(7) | 99(5) | 97(4) | 91(4) | 73(13) | 2 |
| Parsley | 0 | 0 | 63(29) | 0(17) | 69(14) | 64(13) | 50(12) | 0 | 0 |
| Parsnips | 82(172) | 87(57) | 79(27) | 85(19) | 89(14) | 77(15) | 51(32) | 1 | 0 |
| Peas | 0 | 89(36) | 94(14) | 93(9) | 93(8) | 94(6) | 86(6) | 0 | 0 |
| Peppers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 70(25) | 96(13) | 98(8) | 95(8) | 70(9) | 0 |
| Radish | 0 | 42(29) | 76(11) | 97(6) | 95(4) | 97(4) | 95(3) | 0 | 0 |
| Spinach | 83(63) | 96(23) | 91(12) | 82(7) | 52(6) | 28(5) | 32(6) | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet Corn | 0 | 0 | 47(22) | 97(12) | 97(7) | 98(4) | 91(4) | 88(3) | 10 |
| Tomatoes | 0 | 0 | 82(43) | 98(14) | 98(8) | 97(6) | 83(6) | 46(9) | 0 |
| Turnips | 1 | 14 | 79(5) | 98(3) | 99(2) | 100(1) | 99(1) | 99(1) | 88(3) |
| Watermelon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 94(12) | 90(5) | 92(4) | 96(3) | 0 |
* The above data was taken from a report published in the mid-1980's. Author, affiliation, and publisher are not known.
There is some variation, but soil temperature in the 65-86 degree range is best for all seeds to grow, and we're not seeing those temperatures consistently right now. Seeds take longer to germinate, and fewer plants result at the 50-70 degree temperatures we have been experiencing. What does this mean?
I dunno.
I am just anxious for my garden to begin showing some signs of life, or my transplants to perk up, but nothing seems to have happened in the last week. And the forecast for the next ten days is not hopeful, either. I can't stand the thought of another "summer that wasn't" like we had a few years back. Yuck. Even if we had some sun, the temperatures would aggregate over time, but we're not even getting that. Meanwhile, I am worrying every time that I water the garden that I am cooling the soil down and encouraging further heat loss through evaporation.
I know myself. I am easily discouraged. I will have an even harder time sarting next year if this year is not at least marginally successful. On the other hand, if I have a bad year out the gate and success forever after, that could be a good thing.
Just hoping and praying for some warmer weather, and soon, so that the plants get a good start.
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