Ep 206. Soil Temperatures and Sowing Seeds

After sharing a snap pea dilemma, Mary Stone reviews the significance of soil temperature for sowing vegetable seeds, tools, and DIY techniques to check soil temperature. 

She features the benefits of No-Till gardening to improve soil and plant health. Then, she discusses the practice of following nature, called Phenology, and Planting by the Moon. 

Mary wraps up with a personal story about planting seeds from a lunar gardening book her mother owned, noting that some seeds sprouted despite their age. And invites listeners to share their Garden of Life stories my emailing AskMaryStone@gmail.com.

Thanks for tuning in. 

Related Podcasts and Blog Posts you'll enjoy:

When to Sow Vegetable Seeds Outside

Ep 28. Three Sisters, No-Till Gardening

No-Till Gardening and Starting a No-till Garden - Blog Posts

Ep 26. Folklore of Hope - Planting Following Nature

Planting Following Nature and Planting by the Moon - Blog Posts

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I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com.

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.
Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
                                        AskMaryStone.com

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 206 Soil Temperatures and Sowing Seeds

Fri, May 16, 2025 10:20AM • 10:01

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Vegetable seeds, Mother's Day, soil temperature, no-till gardening, chickweed, ground ivy, phenology, lunar gardening, planting dates, seed germination, garden chores, Old Farmer's Almanac, folklore, nature observations, garden dilemmas.

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00

Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to garden dilemmas, delights and discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:26

Hello there. It's Mary Stone on the screen porch. And boy, we had some big rain, big rain all day today, and the brook is racing, and the peepers are peeping at an early time of day. I spent some time in the vegetable garden on Sunday, it was Mother's Day, and it made me feel closer to my dear mom who gave me my garden start. I sure miss her, and I'm sure many of you who have lost your moms do as well. It makes Mother's Day a little hard, doesn't it, but they are in our hearts forever. I was checking out the snap peas I planted, and I look forward to sharing when to sow vegetable seeds outside. 

Mary Stone  01:07

But first I want to thank those who reached back about our last chat about the Lotus effect and Lady's Mantle. I'm glad you enjoyed the folklore about Lady's Mantle and how some believe the dew droplets do turn into diamonds. Others believe that sticking their little toe in the dew during the full moon in May while naked will help you look young and beautiful forever. We just had a Full Moon on May 12, called the flower moon. Seems fitting. How many of you were out there in your birthday suit? I wonder. So, on to this week's story. It starts like this.

Mary Stone  01:44

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green; I found a few hours to tackle the vegetable garden on Mother's Day. Finding time for my garden is hard, but it brings me such joy when I do. Thankfully, gardens are forgiving a bit of save on my delinquency, I planted snap peas a few weeks ago, following the protocol when peepers peep it's time to plant peas. Well after the 10-day anticipated germination period, only about a third sprouted, likely due to the soil temperatures not being warm enough. Maybe taking the soil temperature is more accurate than following folklore to determine when to sow vegetables outside. Still, following folklore is such fun.

Mary Stone  02:28

 I gingerly removed the chickweed and ground ivy that scrambled upon my no-till garden because I never planted the cover crop in the fall, nor did I spread the straw as a last-minute remedy. Darn! I carefully removed the plants, trying not to disturb the soil, as we learned in our no-till gardening coaching from Patty Dole of Little Big Farm, a cut flower farm in Blairstown, New Jersey. I shared this story a few years ago, featured in Episode 28. It’s also called no-dig gardening; it's the practice of not disturbing the soil by turning it over. Soil is a living thing, after all, with microorganisms and nematodes, fungi, protozoa, and earthworms, which all work together to decompose organic matter that nourishes the soil, adding aeration, improving drainage and moisture retention. So as a result of not disturbing the soil, not only will plants grow better and produce more fruit, but they will also be more resistant to pests and diseases and more tolerant of periods of drought. 

Mary Stone  03:35

I giggled as I worked because chickweed and ground ivy, also known as creeping Charlie, are edible. So maybe I was meant to feed on those rather than the tomato, zucchini, green beans, and cucumbers I have planned. Hmm, I better research and learn more about that before I forage. I did dig into that, by the way, and I'll put a few links in the show notes because they are edible. And maybe, just maybe, I will give it a try. 

Mary Stone  04:03

Planting at the right time is as essential as water and nutrients. Following a calendar of when to plant isn't always accurate because weather trends and temperatures vary as we experience this year and other years. Taking your soils temperature is the most accurate way to determine if you are good to go on transplanting starter plants and sowing certain seeds directly in the ground. 

Mary Stone  04:26

Many seed packets and plant labels provide the optimum soil temperature for planting, and there are high-tech thermometers that provide digital readings that beep when ready. But an analog soil thermometer for less than 10 bucks is just as effective. They work much like the human kind, which would be the in the bottom variety, mom, who was a registered nurse, always touted to be most accurate. Simply stick the soil thermometer probe into the soil about six inches for a minute or until Mr. High tech beeps. You can even use the instant ring thermometer made for cooking. Hey, that's a good idea because I hardly ever use my thermometer for cooking. 

Mary Stone  05:07

Check the temperatures where you intend to plant each crop. Seed germination temperatures range from 40 degrees or warmer for lettuce, kale, peas, and spinach, 50 degrees for onions, turnips, and Swiss chard, 60 degrees for broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beans, and beets, and 70 degrees for tomatoes, squash, corn, cucumbers, melons, and peppers. Once established, many veggies can handle cooler air temperatures if the soil is warm enough, which is why starter plants can give us a jump start. Be sure to check your soil temperature at mid-day for at least three days, average the readings by dividing the total by the number of days taken, and no faking a fever to avoid going to school. 

Mary Stone  05:53

Speaking of planting, following nature goes beyond the adage; when the peepers are peeping, it's time to plant peas. There's when dandelions bloom, it's the cue to dig in potatoes. It's called phenology, observing animal migrations when certain insects, amphibians and hibernating animals, emerge, or the first budding and blooming on different plants as a guide for planting or performing certain garden chores,. They say to plant tomatoes when native flowering dogwood are in bloom, that would be the cornus Florida. Maybe that's true for starter plants, because soil temperature again, for tomato seeds need to be 70 degrees. Another adage is to prune roses and spread corn gluten as a pre-emergent for Weed Prevention when forsythia is in bloom.

Mary Stone  06:41

You can start practicing phenology by keeping track of what's happening in your garden, taking notes of weather patterns and observations of nature. Then, compare your notes from year to year. Beyond phenology, there's a nifty planting dates tool that helps published by the Old Farmer's Almanac, which touts a fairly reliable list. It's a chart searchable by zip code, listing when to plant seeds and which seeds to start indoors. It's based on frost dates, with the disclaimer that dates can vary by region. The list also has alternate dates called Moon dates. I'll put a link in the show notes. It's such a nifty tool and a lot of fun to look at.

Mary Stone  07:21

 Planting or gardening by moon phases is also called lunar gardening or lunar planting, and it's a practice as old as agriculture. True, much as a legend, but there are scientific concepts to back it up. For instance, the tides are highest during the new and full moon; just as the moon pulls the waves in the ocean, it causes moisture to rise in the earth, encouraging growth. Garden dilemmas? Ask Mary Stone.com.

Mary Stone  07:52

 It was fun to revisit some of those old tidbits of stories on the lunar planting, and it kind of gives me another throwback to my dear mom because there was a book that I uncovered as I was going through her things that I incorporated several books of hers into my library, but this one particularly just kind of made me laugh, because mom was very careful about her books. She often wrote in pencil where she got them so that, in case the book was passed along, somebody could erase her note. One of the books was a lunar gardening book published in 1989 that included four packs of seeds that, despite their age, I planted them in the spring of that year that mom passed away. There was nothing to lose and a lot of smiles to be gained because a few of the seeds did indeed sprout. So, there you go. Those seed packs tell you that you should plant them in that year, that they are packed into little packages. But hey, sometimes seeds last far longer. Anyway, thank you for visiting with me on the screen porch and allowing me to reminisce about my mom, I love hearing stories about your garden starts, so please share them with me at ask marystone@gmail.com thank you for sharing this time each week. It lifts my heart, and I hope yours too. Enjoy planting your seeds out in the garden and maybe delve into eating some chickweed. I don't know. What do you think? I'm in if you are. Thanks again. See you next time on the screen porch. 

Mary Stone  09:30

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag. Mary Elaine Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. Always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.