Brrrr ... these freezing nights in Phoenix!

Hello Fellow Desert Gardeners!

I'm fairly new to the forum just haven't said HI here.  I am in the Valley of the Sun and this is my first year SFGing.  I haven't had much growing success in the past but I'm hoping to get my thumb greener with the SFG techniques!  

What are you growing and how are you keeping your garden warm?

I have some broccoli, kale, lettuce and spinach.  As well as a sugar snap pea and strawberry plant.  I have been covering with old fabric (think thickness of a sheet)  but today put a type of row cover made from old galvanized conduit and placed a sheet of clear heavy plastic over it.  Then I decided to give plants double thickness of fabric blanket.  Then brought my lettuce bowls inside as they are just babies but tall enough to feel the weight of the fabric. 

How's it going for you?

Stay warm    I know it's not snowing but the frost on the ground seems like it should be!!

An official  Cothek    
from Kelejan in   

You haven't seen freezing yet until you have been in the Great White North.  Some parts of the U.S. can get very cold as well, those bits that are stuck next to Canada for example.  OK, we are a tad envious of you in the South but there are pros and cons in any situation.

I get five to six mpnths off gardening so that by the time spring comes along I am raring to go.  Meanwhile I get to see all the lovely greenery in pictures from the South.

By the time you have  been with us for a season I can safely say your thumb will be a lot greener and by then you will have caught the bug of Square Foot Gardening.

Finally got my computer back and am back on to stay, I hope. We are right down the road from Phoenix in Casa Grande and when I take our dogs to the dog park about 7:00 there has been frost almost every morning and for several mornings the temps. have been 27, 28 degrees. Only growing herbs this year to see what Jan. and Feb. bring weather wise. Our friends who have been coming here for the last 12 to 15 years say this is pretty unusual for Dec. I think my son is warmer in RI than we are. Most days however do warm to upper 60's or low 70's but when the sun goes down the temp. drops like a rock.  Still it beats the snow. Hope my garlic in CO is doing OK, will find out in March.

John, Fresno is about the same as AZ. Freezing or frosty nights in the coldest part of winter. In addition, if it rains and then the sun shines, we get socked in with fog.

Hi, CotheK from Ohio! We have had an unusually warm fall/winter transition here, due to El Niño we are told.

You will learn a LOT, not just from our folks here, but just your own experience with SFGing period.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner! I don't have much time to log on. It always seems to be on night I can't sleep! 

 To answer your question in Glendale, Az, I am not covering my garden at all. I have broc, cauliflower, spinach, peas, kale, kohlrabi, and some herbs. These are all doing fine and the cold hasn't bothered. Maybe slowed the growth a bit.  I do have some left over peppers and tomatoes that have some frost damage on top, but the bottoms are still alive. If they make it through the winter they will be some awesome plants in the spring! We only have about another month until we can begin planting tomatoes again!  My seedlings are getting big and will porb. need to build a temporary green house or something outside because they won't fit under the lights much longer! 
   Happy gardening!

I can't believe you are growing tomato seedlings already! Can you post a photo to cheer up folks who are still waiting to start our seedlings? Thanks

Current temp in my location in Minnesota is 32 and lots of new snow.  (beautiful but a pain to shovel because it is so heavy at this temp.)  Tonight it is supposed to drop to 5 degrees and tomorrow it is supposed to be a high of 3 degrees and a low of -12 degrees.  The Minnesota Vikings are in the playoffs on Sunday and it’s going to be cold. The wind chill at game time is expected to be around 20 below zero.

For us, this coming Thursday will be a heat wave of 25 degrees.

greatgranny wrote:Current temp in my location in Minnesota is 32 and lots of new snow.  (beautiful but a pain to shovel because it is so heavy at this temp.)  Tonight it is supposed to drop to 5 degrees and tomorrow it is supposed to be a high of 3 degrees and a low of -12 degrees.  The Minnesota Vikings are in the playoffs on Sunday and it’s going to be cold. The wind chill at game time is expected to be around 20 below zero.

For us, this coming Thursday will be a heat wave of 25 degrees.

Hopefully they are playing someone from a warm clime... LOL!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Hopefully they are playing someone from a warm clime... LOL!

They are playing the Seahawks.  Is that warm enough to make them a bunch of wimps?

greatgranny wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Hopefully they are playing someone from a warm clime... LOL!

They are playing the Seahawks.  Is that warm enough to make them a bunch of wimps?

Yes, anywhere almost is warmer than Minnesota in the winter.  I went up to Minnesota one winter for my great uncle's funeral and estate sale.  What a cold, dreary place that was in the winter.  Give me sun and warmth any day.  Anything colder than Georgia makes me a wimp.

yolos wrote:

greatgranny wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Hopefully they are playing someone from a warm clime... LOL!

They are playing the Seahawks.  Is that warm enough to make them a bunch of wimps?

Yes, anywhere almost is warmer than Minnesota in the winter.  I went up to Minnesota one winter for my great uncle's funeral and estate sale.  What a cold, dreary place that was in the winter.  Give me sun and warmth any day.  Anything colder than Georgia makes me a wimp.

If you lived here you would make it work.  I think that people would have to live here for a while to acclimate. I have lived here my whole life.  Yes, it is cold and sometimes I am not happy with it but for the most part, having 4 seasons is good.  We make the most of it by skiing, skating, ice fishing, etc.  Fish actually taste better when caught in the winter. 

Kids with rosy cheeks is a wonderful sight.  They love to play in the snow.

I agree with Granny, you would acclimate!  I find it hard to go south because it's too hot.  I almost died the week in July I spent in DC, and that's just below the Mason-Dixon.

Haha! I just think it is a hoot when teams have to play (look aghast) in the SNOW! Yes, we are okay in the cold and snow, and have lobbied for a big Bowl game...but....no...Arizona, Texas, Florida, etc. , etc., etc., Lol

Scorpio Rising wrote:

greatgranny wrote:Current temp in my location in Minnesota is 32 and lots of new snow.  (beautiful but a pain to shovel because it is so heavy at this temp.)  Tonight it is supposed to drop to 5 degrees and tomorrow it is supposed to be a high of 3 degrees and a low of -12 degrees.  The Minnesota Vikings are in the playoffs on Sunday and it’s going to be cold. The wind chill at game time is expected to be around 20 below zero.

For us, this coming Thursday will be a heat wave of 25 degrees.

Hopefully they are playing someone from a warm clime... LOL!

Scorpio, that is NOT nice.

littlesapphire wrote:I agree with Granny, you would acclimate!  I find it hard to go south because it's too hot.  I almost died the week in July I spent in DC, and that's just below the Mason-Dixon.

Julie - did you know that DC was once considered a hazardous duty post because it was all a swamp? Malaria was rampant!

AtlantaMarie wrote:

littlesapphire wrote:I agree with Granny, you would acclimate!  I find it hard to go south because it's too hot.  I almost died the week in July I spent in DC, and that's just below the Mason-Dixon.

Julie - did you know that DC was once considered a hazardous duty post because it was all a swamp?  Malaria was rampant!

That might explain why it was so humid!

Current temp at 4:40 p.m. is 1 degrees.  I wonder how low it will get by tomorrow morning.  Sure glad I am not a football person.  Vikings vs Seahawks tomorrow in Minneapolis.  Must have been crazy to have torn down the "dome".

Kelejan wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:

greatgranny wrote:Current temp in my location in Minnesota is 32 and lots of new snow.  (beautiful but a pain to shovel because it is so heavy at this temp.)  Tonight it is supposed to drop to 5 degrees and tomorrow it is supposed to be a high of 3 degrees and a low of -12 degrees.  The Minnesota Vikings are in the playoffs on Sunday and it’s going to be cold. The wind chill at game time is expected to be around 20 below zero.

For us, this coming Thursday will be a heat wave of 25 degrees.

Hopefully they are playing someone from a warm clime... LOL!

Scorpio, that is NOT nice.

I know.....

Current temp is 4 below.  The current wind chill is 20 below.  The wind chill values... dropping to 25 to 30 below after 6 PM. Coldest wind chills between midnight and 9 am Sunday

Now picture yourself in a stadium at a football game.  This could be interesting.

I think I'm glad I'll be sitting in my living room watching the game from there...

sanderson wrote:I can't believe you are growing tomato seedlings already!  Can you post a photo to cheer up folks who are still waiting to start our seedlings?  Thanks

Here are some of my tomato and tomatillo seedlings getting a new pot today. they were almost all hitting the lights inside. Now I need to finish putting plastic on the "green house" so they can stay outside at night and begin hardening off. I'm putting them in gallon pots and burrying them a little deep to encourage more root growth before they get in the garden. I will then plant them laying down like Mel demos in his book. I find having a big area for roots really helps my plants do well!


 Only another month until they can go in the garden!

Thank you for the encouraging photo. I will start my seedling mid Feb. Can't wait.