Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

**RoOsTeR** 8/14/2012, 9:33 pm

Our weather is starting to change Shocked

slowly but it is changing. The mornings the last week or so have been really cool. Dropping into the 50's. Riding the motorcycle into work this morning I was pretty cold actually. We hit 90 today and the same tomorrow, but the past few days have been very pleasant. Tomorrow night a cold front blows in and we have much cooler weather after that for several days. Like 70's What a Face

Change is a comin! Hope my tomatoes hurry and ripen tongue

Come on okra! Give me something bounce

cheyannarach 8/15/2012, 1:24 am

Sounds like we are in the same boat Rooster. Our weather was the same and it was sad today going into Menards and seeing most the gardening stuff put away and replaced with hunting and halloween stuff...

msmare 8/15/2012, 2:03 am

I live near the Olympic Mtns of WA state. Our weather is going to be very Hot this week. In the upper 90's....not what we are used to, but sure the tomatoes, peppers and zucchinis will love it! Been picking summer squash for 2 weeks now. Tomatoes (cherry) are starting to ripen...slowly but surely and peppers growing madly! Temps in the 60's at night.
I heard the Alaskans are expecting an early winter in Fairbanks. The temps are in the 30's already and snowing in the Brooks Range Mtns.

Goosegirl 8/15/2012, 9:25 am

I am in the North & Central Midwest, but it looks like we are in the same weather pattern as well. A few nights have sneaked down into the high 40's and a few trees are already starting to have some yellow leaves. Hubby and I are planning a trip in Sept/Oct to New England for the Fall Colors - hope we don't miss them!

GG

cheyannarach 8/22/2012, 9:54 pm

A few of our nights have been 40-41 degrees, ugh, I'm not ready for this!

**RoOsTeR** 8/23/2012, 7:44 am

It's (end of season) coming all to soon Sad

Our nights are dipping into the 50's still, but the last couple of days have been hitting or breaking 90. We are HOPEFULLY going to get some showers here the next few days and dipping back down into the 80's.

Goosegirl 8/23/2012, 11:26 am

We have had some nights into the upper 40's and some trees are getting some yellow leaves. I just saw 2 maple trees starting to get a red tinge this morning as well. NOT READY FOR FALL!!!

GG

**Turan** 8/25/2012, 11:47 am

It frosted last night Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like? 671790

The winter squash leaves all look like limp umbrellas.
I think the cukes are gonners and they had just started setting fruit.

Thankfully I had closed up the greenhouse tight so all is well in there.

**walshevak** 8/25/2012, 6:11 pm

Dang!! Where did that come from. Glad your greenhouse is ok.

Kay

cheyannarach 8/26/2012, 12:57 am

Turan wrote:It frosted last night

The winter squash leaves all look like limp umbrellas.
I think the cukes are gonners and they had just started setting fruit.

Thankfully I had closed up the greenhouse tight so all is well in there.

Ohhh Noooo, so sorry Turan what a bummer. I think we are good until at least the end of the month, ugh, I am hoping no frosts until at least mid September (fingers crossed).

**RoOsTeR** 8/26/2012, 10:59 am

Turan wrote:It frosted last night

The winter squash leaves all look like limp umbrellas.
I think the cukes are gonners and they had just started setting fruit.

Thankfully I had closed up the greenhouse tight so all is well in there.

What a bummer turan Evil or Very Mad

I feel for you. I'm not ready for frost yet! What I hate about this time of year is that we are basically getting to that point where we could get a frost at any time. What bums me out is you will get a frost enough to wreck everything and it'll shoot back up into the 80's and 90's and will be perfect growing weather for another month

Hang in there. I hope you have some salvageable's.

**Turan** 8/26/2012, 5:53 pm

Thanks guys. My usual first frost date is Sept 7. Thankfully the peas and broccoli from spring are still pumping out the produce. The squash is not dead, just pruned Laughing

(I can see the compost pile again) If we have a warm spell for awhile now it will put all its energy into ripening what it has. The summer squash was somewhat protected so only lost a few leaves. The bush beans look gone. I had scattered carrot seed when I planted them, so I will pull the beans and let the carrots fill in the space now. The pole beans might bounce back if we have a long enough warm spell. I seeded raab and bokchoi earlier this month and it is up and growing. The eggplant and peppers were covered and only got nipped, besides they were not exactly doing much. I really need to work what they need specifically, I grow them like tomatoes and the tomatoes thrive and they do not.
I have row covers ready to help the greens keep going but that should not be needed for another month.

O I guess I should go ahead and pick the corn, some ears are almost ripe but I do not know if they can continue ripening after this amount of frost? Any one know?

ryan 9/4/2012, 11:04 pm

Ugh, just checked the weather and got our first 36 Shocked

degree low predicted for friday night.

**walshevak** 9/4/2012, 11:57 pm

Time to get the frost blankets and/or hoophouse plastic out. You might get an extra 2 or 3 weeks especially if an Indian Summer comes.

Kay

cheyannarach 9/5/2012, 10:23 am

My Friday night low forecast is 37, I have been harvesting everything I can to keep the deer from eating it before I do. How do pumpkins do with cooler weather? Mine are just starting to turn orange!! I don't have any hoop houses but I was thinking about wraping my cattle panel arches and making a "greenhouse" around the spaghetti squash, watermelons, and cukes. I also have some paint drapeclothes that I use to cover my sweet potatoes.

**Turan** 9/5/2012, 11:46 am

cheyannarach wrote:My Friday night low forecast is 37, I have been harvesting everything I can to keep the deer from eating it before I do. How do pumpkins do with cooler weather? Mine are just starting to turn orange!! I don't have any hoop houses but I was thinking about wraping my cattle panel arches and making a "greenhouse" around the spaghetti squash, watermelons, and cukes. I also have some paint drapeclothes that I use to cover my sweet potatoes.

All those will work. Try to have a space between covers and plants, or be ok that where the cover rests on hte plant will freeze. Running the sprinkler can help too. With you being on the top of a cliff doesn't that protect you from a lot of early frosts?

I am leaving the covers on my winter squash and pumpkins for now. The fruit can handle mild frosts but not a hard freeze. Pumpkins will continue to turn orange in the house.

cheyannarach 9/5/2012, 8:24 pm

Thanks Turan, I have never grown pumpkins before so I wasn't sure If I could pick em if I had too, so far so good! Wish me luck friday, so far the forcast has gone up a few degrees so I might be in luck, for now!

cheyannarach 9/7/2012, 9:10 am

Ahhhhh! It rained cheers

for the first time since July!

**RoOsTeR** 9/7/2012, 11:38 am

cheyannarach wrote:Ahhhhh! It rained for the first time since July!

I am soooo jealous! I was really hoping the cold front that blew in last night would bring some rain, but no such luck Mad

**RoOsTeR** 9/10/2012, 9:59 am

We've been warm again the last couple of days. Low 90's. Later in the week our high will be in the 60's and they are calling for snow above 9-10,000 feet cloudy-bummer

cheyannarach 9/10/2012, 10:15 am

Can I believe my eyes, you have RAIN in the forcast! Better late than never right! Hopefully no snow for you, it's way to early to be using four letter words...

**Turan** 9/10/2012, 12:59 pm

I just looked at my 5 day forecast. Looks like frost tomorrow and Wednesday nights. One forecast says 28 and the other says 30 so a light frost if not for too long. I am trying to decide what needs to be hauled in and what can wait longer.

Here is a good guide, though I see that other sources put the dividing point between light frost and hard freeze at 28 rather than 25, and I agree from experience. (though it is possible that my temps drop lower than i realize etc etc, I only have a thermometer of questionable accuracy on the north house wall)

What is the difference between a light frost and a hard freeze?

A light frost occurs when the temperature drops to below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and refers to the conditions that allow a layer of ice crystals to form when water vapor condenses and freezes without first becoming dew. A hard freeze is a period of at least four consecutive hours of air temperatures that are below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Many plants can survive a brief frost, but very few can survive a hard freeze.

Better Safe Than Sorry

If you're a gardener, here are few tips on preparing for frost.

Harvest basil and other tender herbs before a light frost (when the temperature drops to 32 degrees Fahrenheit). Even if they survive the frost, they don't do well in cold temperatures. The same is true for most annuals.
Bring geraniums indoors before the first light frost arrives. Keep them in a sunny window in a relatively moist room; the kitchen is often best. See more about overwinterizing geraniums and putting your garden to bed.
Harvest all tender vegetables before a light frost, including: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, beans, cucumbers, melons, spinach, okra, squash, and sweet corn. Another option is to protect tender vegetables from light frosts with row covers, old sheets, paper bags, or plastic.
For plants that can survive a light frost, add a heavy layer of mulch to keep the ground from thawing and you can still harvest late into the fall as long as the ground isn't frozen. These veggies include: beets, broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, parsnips, swiss chard and leafy greens, and arugula.
Harvest plants that can survive a hard frost last, such as: carrots, garlic, horseradish, leeks, parsnips, radishes, and turnips.

**RoOsTeR** 9/12/2012, 9:57 am

It's wonderful outside right now! Very Happy

We're getting our first rain since I don't know when and it's a nice and cool 52° Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like? 998388915

We will be cutting the alfalfa for the last time at the end of the month and this rain will really help it along.
Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like? 20120912_074455

Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like? 20120912_074455

Ole Blue is getting a bath too! Very Happy

Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like? 20120912_074519

**RoOsTeR** 9/26/2012, 2:04 pm

Lol, I tried to retire my garden a bit early after my injury seeing as how it's pretty difficult to get out there and do much. I stopped watering a couple of weeks ago and now, low and behold we are getting rain Razz

What's everyone else's weather like these days in the region?

cheyannarach 9/26/2012, 2:34 pm

Super dry here Rooster. I still haven't had a frost but some areas around here have, I must be in a special little warm bubble Smile

. I still have watermelons, one love spaghetti squash, and cukes going outside. The deer ate the rest. I got my walking Egyptian onions (from Turan Very Happy

) planted last week and need to get my garlic planted still. Other than no rain it's been great.

Sponsored content

Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?

Re: Western Mountains and High Plains: What's Your Weather Like?


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.