Local Climate Yo-Yo

When I moved here and started gardening in 1977 we could count on the average last frost date to be around April 15 to 20.    End of April, first of May, you could safely plant warm weather crops.  But the last few years. . .  Gracious!   Not only do we get freezes (plural) in May but it is immediately followed by extreme hot temperatures.    Temperatures up, down, up, down, up, down sounds like a local climate yo-yo or some kind of erratic pendulum, for crying out loud.  As a gardener and ranch hand this weather sure is pushing on my enjoy life every day attitude.  It’s all part of life’s adventure, I know, but boy, it’s keeping me on my toes.  (Thank goodness my toes move and I can feel them)  Yesterday morning I uncovered all peppers and tomatoes when temps were back up above 50.  Some looked a little stressed.  After all it was like putting them in a refrigerator for the night.  But I think they’re going to OK, if not slowed down a bit.  I covered them all back up last evening because it was in the mid 40s when the sun went down.  I usually expect to maybe get a frost if it is below 50 when the sun goes down.  Strawberries and blackberries that were under wobbler  sprinklers night before last are still in good shape.  I turned the sprinklers back on at 11:00 last night when the temps dropped below 40 again.   It was 35 this morning at 2 and 32 at 5:30.  I’ll turn off sprinklers and uncover plants as soon as it warms up here in a little bit.

blooming iris in Cartwell Too

Luckily there are blessings.  The iris in Cartwell Too (one of the movable high tunnels) are gorgeous and long lasting this year.  The first ripe strawberry sure was tasty.  We’ve spinach and lettuce galore.  And we’ve been getting about a pound and a half of asparagus a day.  Yummy!  It has a high sugar content for some reason this year so that it almost taste sweet like fruit.  Master Chef Josh Hoy says it's so good that he ate a whole bundle of it raw in one sitting the other night. 

Yesterday's aparagus harvest

But when am I going to be able to plant basil in the field?   grump.  Or corn?  It’s supposed to be warm again in a day or so. They’re even predicting a high of 97 on next Tuesday. Yo-yo    Good Grief.   Throw the average frost date out the window.  Now that I am living in the local climate yo-yo phase of my life, what I can count on is that I better figure out how to make it possible to easily cover and uncover all my baby plants with frost and freeze protection.   And maybe, I better start thinking a little more about shade cloth, too.  Mobile tunnels and low tunnels sprouting in a garden somewhere near me. . . . . is in the forecast.