I'm still sittin' here, twiddling my thumbs, waitin'....

[Raven]

for the overnight temperatures to hit 50 so I can plant. Looks like maybe next week or the week after. Everything's ready to go...seed potatoes, corn, lettuce, green beans, tomato plants, cucs, carrots (those funny looking round ones), basil...the bugs will still be out but I got one of those funny looking net hats...I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to come! :-)

[LiberalEsto]

1. Here's hoping

for a hot time in the ol' garden tonight!

Raven, have you tried solarizing?

In early April, I put sheets of heavy clear plastic over my planting beds, and weighed it down with bricks on each corner, to kill pests, weeds and some diseases. It also warmed up the soil. Two weeks ago I uncovered one bed and put in tomatoes and peppers, and they seem to be doing well despite the cool weather. The plastic also kept the danged maple seeds from infiltrating the garden. And you can hose it off and re-use it next year.

I'm in climate zone 6, in central Maryland, but I thought it might be worth trying up North where you live.

A friend of mine gets his lettuce started fairly early by sowing a row of seed and covering it with an old board until the seedlings are well established.

[Raven]

3. God, that's a great idea! Thanks. I'll try it next year. Since my

garden gets sun all day long, it should work.

[sazemisery]

2. If it makes you feel better

I am in NE Oklahoma and the temps have just now begun to be in the 50's at night. I plan to plant my okra and corn this week. My garden is usually growing gangbusters by now but I only have tomatoes and basil planted in the ground. Global warming is a bitch!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Would it help any if I mailed you some grasshoppers?

Really, it's no trouble. I've plenty to go around. You can run about squishing them as if it's the midst of summer. :P

My mom was in the midst of spring fever and soil too cold to work when all of a sudden they got a heatwave in Northern California. You never know what Mother Nature has planned.