Hope you all have been enjoying and basking in the sun these past few days. We sure have! Just don’t start going crazy in the garden quite yet. Sure, go ahead and get your beds ready for planting and get the last of the cool season crops in the ground. These would include carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, kale, collards, onions, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. It does not include tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, squash and melons or any other of the warm season veggies. The air temperature may be warming but the ground temp is still cold. Really, go out and put your hand on the ground, better yet dig down a few inches and feel the temperature, it's pretty chilly. The best way to tell is to get a soil thermometer and take the soil's temperature. Soil thermometers are available at good plant nurseries for just a few dollars. Take the temperature once in the morning and then late in the afternoon and average the two numbers to get the temperature for the day. Here is a list of veggies and the optimum temperature for planting:

Soil Temperature Germination Ranges for Select Vegetables TEMP (° F)
Cabbage, Kale, Broccoli, Collards (germinate well at 85, seedlings prefer 45–65) Lettuce, most Salad Greens (at more than 80, germination rate drops 50%) 35–75
Spinach (optimum 68) 50–85
Onions (optimum 75) 45–95
Radishes (optimum 85) 50–85
Beets, Swiss chard (optimum 85) 60–85
Beans, snap and dry (optimum 80) 70–85
Beans, lima (optimum 85) 40–75
Peas (optimum 75) 60–95
Corn (optimum 95) 65–82 tomatoes (optimum 80) 60–95
Peppers (optimum 85) 65–100
Cucumbers, Melons, Squash (optimum 80–95)

There are a few tricks to speeding up the time it takes for the soil to warm. Raised beds usually warm before ground beds. Placing black plastic on the bed increases the soil's temperature because the black color absorbs solar radiation and the plastic helps insulate the bed to hold the heat in. If your beds have been mulched over the winter simply remove the mulch so the sun can warm the soil. Mulch is a great thing, during the hot summer it helps to keep the soil cool and conserves water but in the early spring you want the ground to warm up and dry out a bit so removing the mulch is a must. Simple cold frames and tunnels can be built using a variety of materials, and of course you can always buy a kit. The basic idea is to frame in your bed using wire, bamboo, willow shoots or other bendable material over which you lay clear plastic. Anchor the plastic down using ground staples, rocks, extra soil or sand filled bags and you have an instant mini greenhouse. I just recently read about a great idea for making sand bags out of the legs of old jeans. The legs were cut off and the bottoms were stitches shut, the bags were filled with sand and then stitched closed. These are perfect for holding down the edges of mini tunnels, cloches and cold frames. Old jeans and pants can be had sometimes for 50 cents at thrift stores; it's a sewing project even I could do.

The sun is calling, see you all next week. Have questions? e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text28912 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it