The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is still not having meetings, and by this time our meeting season would be just about over as we turn our attention to our gardens!聽 This is almost the time when we would be having our famous spring plant sale. But alas, since there is no easy and safe way to do so, we鈥檒l have to hope for next year instead!聽 But please check out our website at and see interesting garden photos and news.
I know we鈥檙e all eager to get out in the garden.聽 Spring clean-up is done for many gardeners; now we just sit with our basket of seeds at our feet and wait.聽 Which brings to mind the question: when is it warm enough to plant?聽 We鈥檝e probably all heard that saying that we can plant 聽鈥渨hen it is warm enough to walk barefoot in the garden鈥�.聽 This is, of course, an old wives鈥� tale, and I would guess it is about someone who has aching feet from getting them chilled!
Agricultural guidelines say that the soil should be at least ten degrees, and while some eager farmers may get out there earlier, cooler soil temperatures will slow down the rate of the plants emerging.聽 Of course, there are exceptions like peas and lentils which can be sown at 5 degrees, and I read that canola and mustard can germinate in chilly soil temperatures of two degrees. But this is too cold for our gardens!
What gardeners want is a balance of soil that is warm enough to do our planting, and also warm enough that the seeds will germinate.聽 So it鈥檚 a compromise between the 鈥減erfect鈥� temperature and the 鈥淧ractical鈥� temperature.聽 We want our soil to be warm enough, but that temperature may not be the one that will give us perfect germination.聽 But how long can we wait?聽 So we aim for the best that we can do.
Some veggies, like beets, carrots, lettuce, radishes, peas and spinach are the 鈥渃ool kids鈥� on our garden team.聽 They don鈥檛 mind 小蓝视频 sown in cooler soil, somewhere around seven degrees, if you have a soil thermometer.聽 Plants like squash prefer soil temperatures of about 20 degrees to germinate; same with beans.聽 Pumpkins like it even a bit warmer.
On top of soil temperature consideration, we also have to think about frost.聽 Plants that are transplanted out, such as tomatoes and peppers, have to wait until the risk of frost is past, unless you are willing to make the effort to cover them.聽 I often think that as the Space Station hurtles through the night sky, if the astronauts have super-strong telescopes, they will always know where there are gardeners and a risk of frost, because they will see us out there with flashlights, covering our hopeful gardens!
If you are doing your planting in a raised bed, the soil will warm up a bit more because the sun is hitting it from the sides, not just the top.聽 So that might give you the advantage of an earlier planting time.
And I know some intrepid gardeners seem to plant much earlier than most of us.聽 They might have luck depending on where their garden is, because some gardens are a unique microclimate if they are a bit higher, more sheltered, or have more exposure to the sun. We all know that in gardening, there are always variables from one garden to the next.
But patience is a virtue, and even though we are so eager to start planting, let鈥檚 make sure the soil is warm enough for best germination!
Thank you to our friends at Yorkton This Week for their continued great work.聽 Let鈥檚 pray for health for all, and be thankful for the chance to be out in our gardens again!聽 Have a great week!
