Gardening in 20 Degree Weather

Gardening in 20 Degree Weather

It is 20 degrees Fahrenheit now. Yesterday when I went home it was 40 degrees; but the wind was blowing hard, sending its icy knives into my tender body. I did not work in the garden long. Today I will garden in the comfort of my warm office. I will layout next years perfect garden and order seeds for the greenhouse. My favorite source for seeds is Renfrow’s hardware in Matthews. Unfortunately they don’t have their seeds in for the next season. I will order from Burpee’s.

Some seeds of course are saved from the garden. I only do the easy ones. Beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash are easy. The problem with squash and other cucurbits is that they interbreed and you may not get a seed that duplicates the vegetable it came from. It can be fun to plant a few and see what you get. I have had more luck with cucurbits planting them in the garden directly. Transplanting seems to stunt them. Seeds from hybrid plants either do nothing or revert to one of the parents. The results may be unsatisfactory.

It is best not to skimp on seeds. Think about what even an expensive seed costs compared to the time and other costs of raising the plants. I have only had a problem with Burpee seeds one time. I planted some tomatoes that did not germinate. After 2 weeks it was obvious. I called and they sent new seeds that arrived the next day. I lost almost no time at all.




David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.