For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
will this ever end? 🥶
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We've had some really weird weather in Bend this past week: an inversion layer (30°F and gloomy in town, 50°F and sunny at the local ski resort), followed by more gloom and more cold. Not east coast-level cold, but cold enough where it should be snowing (a lot). Unfortunately for us winter recreation folks, we've had minimal precipitation so far this season. I've been spending a lot of time at home, sitting by the fire, circling (too many) seeds in my catalogs while waiting out the dreary weather, and it's got me daydreaming about spring—and about my last frost date. Knowing your frost date isn't just important for fall planting; it's also helpful for knowing when it's safe to start seeds (so you don't start too early and risk a freeze) and for succession planting (so you can start sowing as early as possible). Frost dates have shifted over time due to climate patterns, and the old way of estimating your frost date (by using the USDA hardiness zone method) is far from accurate. So, I did something about that.I've consolidated all the recent US Climate Normals data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (based on 15,000 weather stations across the US) and developed a new online tool that looks up your frost dates, based on your exact location. It's a seamless process that allows you to find the frost dates for any location in the US, with risk probabilities at 28°F, 32°F, and 36°F and a summary of how many freeze-free days you can expect each year. (That last part is especially helpful for choosing crops that will ripen before the first frost in your area.) You can even print the results and keep it with your seeds so you'll always have a handy reference at seed starting time!
Bookmark it, share with a friend, and I hope it helps you this year! P.S. Use all of my free online tools to help with your garden planning: |
Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."