When to plant by counting back from the last frost date

For the area I live in:

Each winter, on average, the risk of frost is from September 24 through May 21.

Almost certainly, however, you will receive frost from October 8 through April 23.

You are almost guaranteed that you will not get frost from June 18 through September 11.

Your frost-free growing season is around 126 days. Zone 5b-6a

I am planting Yellow Pear Tomato, a heirloom variety grown since the late 1880's. Suggested to start indoors 6-8 weeks prior to last frost date and to plant outdoors after danger of frost has past. Grow in full sun (will do well in part shade.) Approximately 75 days to maturity. It is considered a vigorous vine type that is heat resistant and cold tolerant. It's growing habit is Indeterminate and needs support. Taking into consideration that the seeds may take 10 to 20 days to germinate and they won't be planted until June 1st, they should be started by about April 10th. To be honest, I usually start my tomatoes in March, but I am so behind this year that they didn't get started until the 19th of April. Still should be plenty of time to get some delicious little tomatoes.

Most seed packets will list the approximate maturity date for each plant. By counting backwards from the last frost date in your area, you can decide if you still have time to plant those bonus vegetables. For instance, if you would like to try growing bush beans, which take about 50-55 days to produce, count back 55 days from your first expected frost date. In our area, (according to farmer’s almanac) the first frost could be approximately October 20. Counting backwards would mean you should get those seeds in the ground well before August 26 to reap a harvest. Keep in mind that the timing stated on seed packets usually starts after the seeds have germinated, which can take a few days to a week. Most seeds will germinate more quickly by soaking them overnight, and you could buy yourself a couple of days.

Fortunately, some cool season crops such as spinach, kale, and lettuce can handle a light frost. You can count back to time these crops to mature before the first frost, but since they are “cut and come again” and will regrow once cut, you will be able to enjoy these vegetables into late fall and early winter. Kale is said to taste sweeter after a light frost. Reap a late harvest this season. Look for seeds with fast-growing rates such as lettuce, beets, and radishes

Hardiness Zone versus Last & First Frost dates

 

How to use your hardiness zone.

Some plants will adapt to a variety of conditions, including soil type, watering fluctuations, and humidity differences, but most plants will only tolerate a specific degree of chill in the winter. That’s where hardiness zones come in—they list the average lowest temp in every area of the country, so gardeners can select perennial plants that will survive the type of winters common to specific regions. 

Use a hardiness map to find the average lowest winter temperature in your community and then choose plants that will survive that temp. To simplify the process, most commercial greenhouses provide detailed plant labels that list suitable hardiness zones, the lowest temperatures the plants can survive, and other vital information, such as whether they will grow better in the sun or shade.

Use a zone map as one factor in choosing a plant. However, don’t forget to check off all the boxes on its other needs.

• Maximum temperature
• Precipitation
• Average frost dates

What are Frost Dates?

A frost date is the average date of the last light freeze in spring or the first light freeze in fall.

The classification of freeze temperatures is based on their effect on plants:

• Light freeze: 29° to 32°F (-1.7° to 0°C)—tender plants are killed.
• Moderate freeze: 25° to 28°F (-3.9° to -2.2°C)—widely destructive to most vegetation.
• Severe freeze: 24°F (-4.4°C) and colder—heavy damage to most garden plants.

Note that frost dates are only an estimate based on historical climate data and are not set in stone. The probability of a frost occurring after the spring frost date or before the fall frost date is 30%, which means that there is still a chance of frost occurring before or after the given dates!

Frost is predicted when air temperatures reach 32°F (0°C), but because it is colder closer to the ground, a frost may occur even when air temperatures are just above freezing. Always keep an eye on your local weather forecast and plan to protect tender plants accordingly. Weather, topography, and microclimates may also cause considerable variations in the occurrence of frost in your garden.

Last and first frost dates are 30% probability. Calculated using 1991-2020 Climate Normals from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

On the reverse side of most seed packets will be a map of the suggested outdoor sowing months for areas, sowing instructions and information on the variety such as how deep to plant, how many days to harvest, light requirements (full sun, part shade, etc.) and plant size and how long till the seeds emerge (7-10 days from sowing). 

With your own knowledge and the information above you can decide what plants/seeds to start indoors and when to start plants/seeds outdoors. 

Happy Gardening!

Know the rules and regulations before wild foraging!

We enjoy trudging through the woods and driving the back roads searching for wild mushrooms and berries to harvest. While we can pick berries without a permit and there isn't a limit, there are permits required and limits on some of the mushrooms. The quantities vary so be sure you educate yourself before you go foraging in the wild!

A number of laws and regulations govern the digging or taking of plants or plant parts in many states and provinces'. As for private land, common law considers plants to be the property of the landowner. Therefore, plants may be legally taken only with the landowner's permission. With the exception of rare or endangered species, plants may always be taken from private land with the landowner's permission.

Public lands in many states and provinces' are managed by a number of agencies, and restrictions on the digging or taking of plants vary. The regulations of several public agencies have to be considered before wild foraging. If you have questions about the legality of collecting plants from any site, you should contact the landowner or managing public agency for specific information.

U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

Department of Natural Resources for your state or Provence

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service

Department of Highways and Transportation for your state or Provence

County Public Works Departments -Road and Bridge Divisions

Planting Spring Potatoes

Are you looking forward to Planting Spring Potatoes (The date to plant depends on your location). They are not that hard to plant, and once harvested, they will last for months stored in a cool place. You will find that potatoes are easy to grow, but like cool weather, so you should try to get them into the ground at the right time. You can order seed potatoes through mail-order garden companies or buy them at local garden centers/ hardware stores. You should be aware that supermarket potatoes are usually treated with chemicals to keep them from sprouting, so they may not grow well. The Organic ones at the stores aren't treated, so they should grow for you. You can store your seed potatoes in the refrigerator until ready to plant.

We are planning to plant in March, depending on the weather! We are in zone 6, but our local last frost date can be in June!

Read all about it! ~ Get your Newspaper!! and make Pots!

Making your own seed pots out of old newspapers is thrifty and newspapers are biodegradable and much more economical than other types of pots.

 When your plants are ready to transplant outdoors, the transplant shock is considerably lessened. All you have to do is be sure to poke drainage holes poked in the bottom of the newspaper pots, dig your planting hole, and place the seedling, pot and all, straight into the hole and water. As the seedling grows, the newspaper decays into the soil.

 Folding newspaper around a mold is perhaps the easiest and sturdiest method of making recyclable pots for your seeds. These have thick bottoms and tight folds, and are very roomy for seed starting.

Take a whole sheet of newspaper and fold in half vertically, then cut along the crease. Each piece makes one pot. Fold it in half again, and fold an inch over horizontally to make a lip. Roll the newspaper around the can, with about two inches extending beyond the bottom of the can. Fold over these two inches to make the pot bottom. Carefully slide the newspaper off the can while holding the bottom, and fold the lip over again inside the pot to secure the folds. You may need to use some tape to hold it together while you work, it can stay on when you're finished.

You and also use the cardboard core from paper towels and toilet paper. Just cut to the size you want, cut the bottom in 4ths part way up and fold over to form bottom.

Raised Garden Beds ~ great way to protect and extend your harvest!

It may seem a bit early to be posting about creating raised beds but I am so anxious for spring to get here that I thought I'd share my enthusiasm. Raised beds, for vegetable, herbs and fruit, at our daughter's house, created out of Douglas fir, peeler cores. What a great job!! Love the way they turned out; the seating area and the octagon bed are fabulous!! The photos of the empty beds were posted May 27, 2019. The garden has been in constant use since then with some amazing results! We added 2 new raised beds to our yard and you can see their photos posted on April 2019, in this blog. 

Photo from 1st year using these beds, in 2019.
The egg plant is loving the raised bed,
the raspberries are over 6 feet tall!

Mason Bees/Native Bees an introduction

Mason bees are invaluable pollinators for early-blooming fruit and nut trees. The solitary animals are active in their adult stage for only a few weeks in the spring—a period of time that coincides with the blooming of fruit trees. They are much more effective at pollinating than honeybees, are non-destructive, rarely (if ever) sting, making them welcome guests to the garden. They are active even when temperatures are too cold for honeybees to brave.

There are over 300 different species of mason bee. The two of the most common species found in North America are the Blue Orchard Bee and the Horn-Faced Bee, while the Red Mason Bee is common throughout Europe.

Smaller than a honey bee, these little bees live for only six to eight weeks but can visit and pollinate over 1,000 blooms each day of their short lives.

Blue orchard bees are about the same size as a honeybee but there are a few key points that help you tell them apart. Blue orchard bees are a dark metallic blue, not striped brown and orange like the honeybee. If you pay attention to where they carry their pollen you can also easily tell apart masons and other leaf cutters from honeybees – honeybees carry round balls of pollen on their hind legs.

Masons are solitary like most native bees. This means that each one tends to its own brood, instead of having a queen and worker bees. However, they seem to like the company of others of their kind and happily build their nests next to each other. They also readily accept the hollow tubes provided by the orchard grower for this purpose. This proves to be very beneficial to the fruit tree grower because it makes it easy to manage this valuable orchard helper.

Not only commercial fruit growers, but home gardeners too have the opportunity to have some orchard bees in their own gardens by placing hand-made or store-bought bee houses or bee blocks in their yards.

Horned-Faced Mason Bee is a native of Japan, where it is extensively used for fruit (apple and cherry) pollination. They were originally introduced to North America on the east coast in the 1960’s by Dr. Suzanne Batra, with the USDA Bee Research Laboratory, Agriculture Research Service, at Beltsville, Maryland.

Horned-faced mason bees are much smaller than orchard mason bees. They are about two-third’s smaller in size. Thus, they can set up cells in smaller nesting holes. However, they will readily adopt 5/16th inch orchard mason bee nesting holes. Being solitary bees, both horned-faced and orchard mason bees will co-exist together.

They derive their name from a distinctive horn on their face. These small bees are brownish colored with light, orange stripes on the abdomen. This gentle pollinator seldom stings. Its sting is similar to a mosquito bite.

Red Mason Bees are a spring-flying species of solitary bee that you are likely to encounter in your garden and local park. As their name suggests, Red Mason Bees nest in walls and use mud to build and line their nests. This species has gained a notorious reputation from the females' habit of excavating their nesting burrows and cells in crumbling or soft mortar joints, thereby, in time, undermining and possibly weakening the fabric of masonry. The bee also utilizes existing holes. 

Females are relatively large bees, with a light-brown thorax, orange-red abdomen and two facial horns on the head. Males are smaller, with a conspicuous tuft of light hairs on their face and longer antennae. On the wing from March until June, Red Mason Bees require a supply of nectar and pollen from early-flowering shrubs and garden plants. They occupy a great range of habitats, with urban populations benefitting from the availability of garden bee hotels.

Widely distributed throughout much of Britain as far north as Perthshire. A common species, except in parts of northern England and in Scotland. A recent arrival in Ireland. There are a few old records from the Channel Islands. The species is found throughout much of the Palaearctic, the range extending from Sweden and Denmark, south to Spain and Morocco, and east to Japan.

Horn-faced mason bee