Measuring the First Frost

– Posted in: Tools and Equipment
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Had our first frost last night, which for around here, was later than usual. I don’t know exactly how cold it got last night, but I wish I did. I’ve been looking at digital max-min thermometers, especially the wireless ones, for a while now, but the price keeps me from indulging. It always comes back to: “Do you know how many plants I could buy for that much money?” And I’ve discovered that a lot of the wireless ones don’t record temperatures as low as -35°F, which is the lowest I think it’s ever gotten since we’ve moved here. One company that prides itself on making wireless thermometers that do go that low is Koch. Theirs go down to -58°F–hopefully I’ll never need to measure temps that low! I don’t know how much these thermometers cost; the website doesn’t give prices and I think you’re supposed to find a retailer. Really, once you know that it frosted last night, or you had a hard freeze, what more do you need to know? But the record keeper in me wants to know, just like I want to know how many tenths of an inch of rain fell on any given day and what our exact latitude and longitude are. The only real question is, is it worth fifty, seventy, ninety bucks to know? So far, the answer has been, no.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It’s a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it’s time to reflect on what’s come before.

~Mitchell Burgess in Northern Exposure

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