soil temperature Archives : Cast Iron Garden

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021

Insulation power of snow

We only made it to -8°F (-22°C — I only really comprehend cold in celsius because of my time in Canada being the previously only time I experienced cold this low) when I got up this morning around 7am.

The gallon jugs in the makeshift faucet boxes were both very cold but unfrozen so I have hope for the pipes in the adjacent walls.

I was really fascinated to see the frost on the window this morning. There’s frost right down until the snow that’s piled on the sill. That snow is only an inch or two thick because of the depth of the window sill outside. Gives me hope for the strawberries buried under the snow! (At least if the cold before the snow didn’t kill them.)

I left the plant window completely open to the house this morning: no curtains or cat shield plexiglass. It only got to 50°F but ice still on bottom metal and on lower glass surfaces.

Amazingly, yesterday’s affected eggplant and peppers have not died. I wonder if it was just ice at the very bottom of the pots, where it touched the metal? Fingers crossed they will continue to recover. The *Salvia* cuttings also seem hopeful.

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

Notes to self on growing mustard greens

I borrowed the ebook of Grow Cook Eat by Willi Galloway from the public library. So far the most useful factoid is that mustard green seeds can be planted when the soil temperature reaches 45°F. According to Oklahoma Mesonet we are there now. In the fall, the book says to plant when temperatures stay in the 70s in daytime. I assume that means air temperature. That may be a little harder but we can try!