Be prepared when talking to a gardener about the weather
February 25, 2018How about that weather
Everyone talks about the weather. It’s a great conversation filler whether you know a person well or are just breaking the ice. Whether it’s hot, cold, rainy, foggy or whatever, it’s a topic everyone knows at least a little something about… unless they never go outside.
And then there’s talking to a gardener or farmer about the weather. You’d better have studied. We’ve got our growing zones, freeze dates and at least three days worth of weather forecast information in our heads just about all the time. Some of us even have a favorite forecasting model GFS vs NAM anyone?
We’re not all weather nerds
No, we’re not, but it can seem like it sometimes. Gardeners do have to know how to help our garden during a drought or extra rainy weather seasons. We keep an eye on storm fronts to make sure our plants won’t get beaten up too badly by wind or hail. When you talk to a gardener about the weather you might actually learn a thing or two.
Where to get real deep and meaningful weather info
If you’re inside the US, the National Weather Service (NWS) at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) … and yes we did just spell that all out… have all the detail behind what your favorite TV or Radio meteorologist is talking about. you can get details by city with reports updated several times per day and forecasts in some cases up to 3 months in some cases.
If your not in America, the World Weather Information Service (WWIS) from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has many similar and very helpful services.
There are plenty of services out there from Weather Underground to Accuwether and they’re all good.
Weather gardeners care about
- Rain – You’d expect gardeners care about the rain, it helps water our plants. We also worry about getting too much. Too much rain can bring plant diseases like fungus or rot that we need to prepare for to keep our plants healthy
- Drought – Similarly to rain, we do care if it gets too hot and dry for extended periods. It can be hell on us to obey municipal watering restrictions while watching our leaf babies shrivel up in the sun.
- Wind – Especially when our plants are young in the spring, wind can be very damaging and stunt growth
- Hail – Want to reduce a gardener to tears? Make them watch a garden in a hail storm… shudder… Just the thought of their little leaves getting shredded is enough to bring a tear to our eyes
- Frost – Frost, the silent killer of many kinds of plants. We’ve got to know when to cover up our plants or bring them inside to keep them safe
Don’t expect us to care about winter weather all that much
Sure some of us gardeners do enjoy outdoor sports like skating, skiing or snowboarding. For many of us, after the garden beds are cleaned up at the end of the growing season, whether the weather brings snow, is of little consequence.
We didn’t learn all this stuff overnight
And we don’t think you’re dumb for not knowing how many millibars of mercury are normal for a bright sunshiny day or that there’s a difference between a frost warning and a freeze warning. But also don’t think we’re being know-it-all’s if we explain it to you.
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