digitS'
Garden Master
Of course there are important variables.
If we are just thinking about our annual gardens - we are mostly concerned with the growing season. I appreciate the information you can find on Wikipedia on climates for many cities using data from weather.com. That gives us a look at precipitation, for example.
I don't have to think too much about precipitation during the the 3 months of summer here since -- there is so dang little of it! But, I've got irrigation.
Warmth makes a difference and the Weather Service provides us with information on Growing Degree Days. You can look here and, hopefully, your community is listed .(CLICK). Perhaps you would like to know a little about how much difference there is between Winslow, Arizona and Flagstaff, Arizona. Well, it's a lot - and both cities are on the list.
Maybe, you have lived in Nashville, TN and planning to move to Helena, MT and you are wondering about how your favorite crop, corn, is going to do in your new location. And, that is kind what the list is measuring -- corn growing conditions but there are quite a few crops that have similar warmth requirements. You can keep in mind that corn for grain takes about 2700 Growing Degree Days to mature. So, you are going to have some trouble growing corn for grain in Helena but, maybe, you can get a crop of tender sweet corn harvested before September.
There might be some surprises. I mean, some of you might think that you can grow anything in Florida or California for example. But, if you want to grow corn in Crescent City, on the northern coast of California -- forget about it!! The plants just don't have enuf warmth to mature a crop even if the days between frosts are many.
Now, not all cities are represented on that list. That's where weather.com can be of help again (CLICK). Just type in your zipcode and the dates and see what they can tell you. You can compare the warmth between different years. For example, you know you had enuf days and warmth to grow Honeydew Melons in 1997 but they failed in 2010 - you may get an idea of what went wrong.
You can also compare international cities on the weather.com site. I like to compare my community with Burgos, Spain! Yeah
. Unfortunately, I can't because that city in the mountains of northern Spain isn't listed :/ . . . Neither is my cousin's home in Merlin, Oregon. But, there are lots of places that weather.com can find for you.
Steve
If we are just thinking about our annual gardens - we are mostly concerned with the growing season. I appreciate the information you can find on Wikipedia on climates for many cities using data from weather.com. That gives us a look at precipitation, for example.
I don't have to think too much about precipitation during the the 3 months of summer here since -- there is so dang little of it! But, I've got irrigation.
Warmth makes a difference and the Weather Service provides us with information on Growing Degree Days. You can look here and, hopefully, your community is listed .(CLICK). Perhaps you would like to know a little about how much difference there is between Winslow, Arizona and Flagstaff, Arizona. Well, it's a lot - and both cities are on the list.
Maybe, you have lived in Nashville, TN and planning to move to Helena, MT and you are wondering about how your favorite crop, corn, is going to do in your new location. And, that is kind what the list is measuring -- corn growing conditions but there are quite a few crops that have similar warmth requirements. You can keep in mind that corn for grain takes about 2700 Growing Degree Days to mature. So, you are going to have some trouble growing corn for grain in Helena but, maybe, you can get a crop of tender sweet corn harvested before September.
There might be some surprises. I mean, some of you might think that you can grow anything in Florida or California for example. But, if you want to grow corn in Crescent City, on the northern coast of California -- forget about it!! The plants just don't have enuf warmth to mature a crop even if the days between frosts are many.
Now, not all cities are represented on that list. That's where weather.com can be of help again (CLICK). Just type in your zipcode and the dates and see what they can tell you. You can compare the warmth between different years. For example, you know you had enuf days and warmth to grow Honeydew Melons in 1997 but they failed in 2010 - you may get an idea of what went wrong.
You can also compare international cities on the weather.com site. I like to compare my community with Burgos, Spain! Yeah
. Unfortunately, I can't because that city in the mountains of northern Spain isn't listed :/ . . . Neither is my cousin's home in Merlin, Oregon. But, there are lots of places that weather.com can find for you.Steve
