At 4 inches at sundown Friday it was 63F in my garden and around 54F at 6 yesterday morning. This was uncovered bare soil. So basically warm enough to put many things int the ground. It is supposed to cool off for a few days and then start another warm up. I have onions in and going out to put potatoes,snap peas and radishes in and to set some WOW's to start warming up. Will drop plants in them before long if I don't see a big weather change ahead. Jay

At approximately 4" depth on the warm side of the garden soil temperatures are around 64 F. On the colder side the temperatures are around 44 F which isn't too bad considering that it was covered with ice until around 5 days ago.

I knew there was something I forgot to do... I meant to get a reading on the soil temp before I put compost down today. Oops. Then I got sidetracked in the frantic dash to get straw down everywhere, and make sure it stayed down... so all my freshly applied compost wouldn't fly to Wyoming. BRrrr!

I could see the storm coming over Pikes Peak fast, and moving straight in my direction. The winds this afternoon are unbelievable, but I think I got everything tucked in for the night. (I hope) Less than an hour later, its snowing on the roses I planted a few days ago...lol.

On the bright side, the hot pile I flipped yesterday is over 120 degrees already. Not sure I made it big enough to stay hot for long, but gave it my best shot. Overnight lows tonight are expected to drop below 20 degrees...and tomorrow won't be much warmer. I'd say its cold already. Its a sharp contrast from the last week of beautiful (but dry) weather. Last I checked, its not supposed to warm up again up here until end of next week... but the 'official' forecast seems to change every 5 minutes. (the earthworms provide more reliable weather predictions anyway, and they say...its COLD!)

Anyways, happy spring to all of you! Only a couple days to go...lol. As for me? I'm cranking up the woodstove, and mulching myself under a pile of blankets until the warm weather comes back...

Leslie in CO, @ 8,500 ft.

Here is a link that might be useful: The cold snap has arrived at Pikes Peak...

Colorado does that up-and-down thing without compare!!

I can hardly imagine soil temperatures in the 60's! I hope you all have a good growing season after such a nice start. Resilience must be required in areas outside of this long, spring slog that is common here. I may not need the quality of resilience so much as good teeth for gritting!

Great pictures, Leslie. I can almost see you dashing about in anticipation of the storm! That looks like an Airdale staying warm on top the compost bin (or just, an insulating bag of mulch). That dog anticipating the storm, also?

The forecast here holds no immediate promise. I can squeeze a few more plant starts here in front of the south window but the greenhouse furnace will have to be fired up soon. And, outdoors . . . I don't know when I can even get started with cultivation.

Steve

ROFL! I was dashing around, and it probably would have made a funny video. Its rarely windy here, so once the 45 mph wind gusts kick in, I star moving pretty fast. Like you say, it can happen without warning... which keeps thing interesting.

Thats Jester, my new Airedale...he's just a 10 monty old pup, but already highly involved with all my gardening/composting adventures. My last Airedale was the same way. They love to dig, so I encourage it... and give him plenty of ways to help. That bin he's sitting on is ammended garden soil we made in the fall with last years compost. He's very fond of that pile... used it as a step stool to break into our raspberry patch last season. He lately objects to my taking any soil out of there - so I try to do it when he's not looking. Its funny...when the wind came up today, I do think he was up there trying to defend his dirt...to keep it from flying away. He's such a trip...

I was just outside to check the hot pile...its still cooking at about 132, degrees; but the ground is frozen solid again. (well, except for the beds that got compost and straw this afternoon. he he) I have some garlic in the ground, which should be okay. A few tomato plants hanging out in the house, some seeds started in flats... otherwise, I've mostly been goofing around with the compost. I'm hoping to get potatoes in the ground by April 15th... it might be a little too early for this altitude, but its too soon to say for sure. Except for a bit of snow today, theres been no moisture at all. I'd happily accept some of your rain, if you have extra...lol

Time for bed, will try to get a thermometer in the ground tomorrow, just to see how frozen it actually is.

Leslie :)

Here is a link that might be useful: At least the compost is still hot...

It could be that I'd find the "3 steps forward, 1 step back" of Colorado gardening seriously frustrating. More frustrating than the "wait, wait, wait" that is so often characteristic here.

Elevations, where everything is either up or down and the aridness of the climate makes for gardening challenges. Outdoor gardening above 8,000 feet? Of course that would be impossible here since it would be above the timberline. I have known gardeners in the hills that have some success but mostly, it is necessary to hug a valley floor around here. Even the slightly higher elevations in the Palouse, shorten the growing season to nearly, unacceptable lengths.

I remember thinking at one time that I could live anywhere below about 3,200 feet and have a garden here. I looked at some property not all that far away and decided that I would camp beside the nearby creek, overnight. Lovely place and it was 4th of July weekend. You guessed it, the leftover coffee in the pot, froze by the next morning.

I moved to a place that was just above 2,500 feet. The 90 day growing season was just too short! And yet, I bet a 90 day growing season isn't all that uncommon for many communities in the central Rockies. Sometimes, I look at Wyoming climate information just to help me realize that there are wonderful places to visit where I'd probably go nutz if I actually lived there . . !

The sun is coming out from behind the eastern hills!!!

Steve

I'd have to shovel off the snow to find out. Air temp this morning was 22F

mid 30"s to mid 40's depending on aspect. just got 12 inches fresh snow! and its still snowing...we really needed this storm!

All my regular 'air temperature' thermometers blew away during the night.

What little snow we got last night didn't amount to much, and its so dry...wish it would just rain, my whole yard needs a bath.

Average 4" soil temp at my place 'seems' to be about 42 degrees. I do get a ton of sun, but that doesn't seem right. I think its colder than that.Tried using my regular comppst thermometer instead, but got totally different results. Is there a 'Thermometer Store' for gardeners somewhere? I need to stock up...

But hey! The new roses are still alive. (I think)
And the compost is still around 130, but its starting to dry out...packing ice on it helped some, but all my snow is melted already...and tap water is hard on the micro herd. (if it doesn't rain soon...I'll be tempted to go foraging for other people's snow to keep the compost hydrated...lol. Its always something...lol.

Going to bed early...wake me when spring comes back.
Leslie

Steve a bit late here , temps out in the garden are pretty varied since we have so many different micro-climates based on the lake but also the hillside(eastern slope) and large evergreen trees,, down by the asphalt and the main planting area for the garden is straw bale which vary from the north end to the south end,,LOL..
So in the greenhouse the soil temp in the containers seems to average between 39 and 45..
Shady parts of the gardens in soils and straw bale still have frost and are between 25 to 31...Sunny areas soil and straw bale range from 35 to 39...The warmer area on the place has a 42 reading but is in our wild zone and mulched up nicely...

I just checked mine, 3" under the mulch on a south-facing bed - 50.4F

And I massacred 3 worms in the process.

Good Heavens, such precision - counting worms, multiple locations!!?

I wonder if that mulch is actually warming the soil, David. I thought mulch early was supposed to be removed because it kept temperatures from rising.

Nearly all the snow melted (again) in my yard this sunny afternoon. Where it slid off the carport roof, it was caught in buckets to provide water to plants in greenhouse. The indoor seedlings made their 2nd trip out there this afternoon when sunshine brought the greenhouse temperature up above 70F. They all looked so happy coming back in the house - a fun time was had by all!!

I have looked at the larger veggie garden (twice) so far this year and may visit the smaller gardens tomorrow. You all are in danger of hearing the same lament from me as in 2011: "Here it is the end of March and I haven't been able to start work in the gardens!" There's a chance that precipitation will be back in just a few days and I can't believe that the soil will dry enuf for cultivation next week if that happens. I guess I'm neither treading water, stuck in mud nor spinning wheels. Should be content that this is life in, or out of, the garden.

Steve

Steve,,
LOL on our case we tend to monitor a few places..In our gardens we have up to a month difference in bloom times for some of the flowers based on which part of the place they happen to be on..
The asphalt in front of the house and concrete in the drive create some nice little Micro-climates..
Mary in MT

The temps at 3 different locations in the main garden was around 70 degrees at 4 pm. It was mid 50's this morning. So quite a swing. That is bare ground. I haven't checked under the floating row cover. Hopefully I'm not baking anything. LOL. Will plant my cool soil tolerant sweet corn the end of this week. Jay

4" depth.

Mid-day, yesterday.

I got 38F.

>.However! Yesterday was sunny all day! The high temperature was 51F and it is supposed to be sunny and warmer-than-that today . . . tomorrow . . . the next day!

I've got some onions, shallots and spinach planted. And, some sweet peas back in the ornamentals. (Cultivation has begun . . . beginning in the big veggie garden only about 24hrs after the last of the snow [skiff] melted ;o)

Steve
nearby (50mi) ag department soil thermometer says 40F

I bought a soil thermometer yesterday. 45 degrees in full sun at 4", hasn't moved all day. I meant to take a reading from the shade too, but in a hurry...goofy earthworms think rain is on the way.

Les, near Pikes Peak

Les, I don't really know where you are and in Colorado - I can imagine that a half a mile in any direction could make a real big difference in temperatures. There's so much up & down in the state and there are some reeaal long shadows cast by those "ups!"

Still, I suspected that agriculture data collection for the state was on par with most other states.

Let's say that Colorado State and the USDA wanted to know the soil temperature in Fort Collins or many other stations around the state [click] they would do that and provide a Data Access Link for hourly reports [click].

We would learn that yesterday about mid-day, the soil temperature at 2 inches (5cm) was 48F and 47F at 6 inches (15cm).

It is likely that this thermometer & most of the others are not anywhere near a RMG's garden but, at least the agencies are trying to be helpful.

Steve