I've been doing a bit of research on the climate here in Burlington, Vermont. According to the 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Burlington lies within a narrow band of light blue surrounding Lake Chaplain. The 1990 map had listed the area as zone 4b but now it appears we are officially zone 5a. While this warming trend may benefit the growers in our area, I can't help but wonder what devastating effects it may have on other parts of the world already prone to such things as drought or flooding.
As a gardener, I must admit that I like the sound of 'zone 5a' much better than 'zone 4b'. Whenever I look at a fruit tree catalog these days, I always get discouraged to see the number of varieties that are only suitable for zone 5 or higher, like most sweet cherries and Asian pears. (I particularly love Fedco's Tree catalog, which gives great advice on specific varieties that will grow best here in New England.) If we decide to remain here for the long haul, I would definitely try to grow some marginally suitable varieties.
When researching Burlington's average frost dates, I found this great chart put out by National Weather Service. I'm horrible at interpreting these things but if I'm reading this one correctly, it seems that May 7th is the median frost free date. We have a 25% chance of frost on May 13th and only a 10% chance on May 19th.
Fast forward to fall, our median first frost date is October 6th with a 25% change of frost on September 29th and a 10% on September 25th.
So how does this compare to what we've been accustomed to our zone 6a garden in northeastern Massacusetts? Well, it looks like we'll be losing about 2 weeks of frost-free days at each end of the growing season (one less month of growing). What's even more striking are the average maximum temperatures during the summer months here in Burlington (June - 75.8 F, July - 81.2 F, August - 77.9 F), which seems much milder than what we're used to.
I imagine my first year of growing here in Vermont should be an interesting one. I'll be curious to see how our tomatoes, peppers and melons fair this year. At the very least, it will be a learning experience for this veggie gardener.
Thomas - Here in South Africa we don't have "growing zones", so all we (Rman and I) have done is check out what everyone else is growing, that is thriving, and plant accordingly :)
ReplyDeleteAnd as for having a catalogue which advises one on what to plant... we should be so lucky!
Thomas, I think anything you grow in containers will do fine in your little 'indoor greenhouse'. If anything, it will probably extend your growing season of some things just a little bit. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
You might want to check out theextremegardener.com. If I remember correctly, she has a lot of experience growing tomatoes in the Northeast Kingdom. I seem to remember she uses special cold-hardy varieties... although in an even colder zone than yours!
ReplyDeleteClues::
ReplyDeleteAir France Concorde
Christa McAuliffe, Concord, NH
Carnaval's Costa Concordia
Concord:::In the "eye of The Beast"
Downey Savings
90s:: "He gets 4 years.", "(His chance is OVER!!)":::2.1.03 (SS Columbia) & 11.26.03 (Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde).
My miracle of Ocean Beach, witnessed by MILLIONS on the West Coast
Mt. Zion:::Slowly being eaten away until one day paradise is gone forever
Carry That Weight
Unit 731::TSUSHOGO
Zastava Koral
"Something happened (which casued the market to fall to 6500.)" Told managers of CalPers funds to sell/manipulated CalPers' holdings?
Allowed the hustlers who got out of the market at/near its peak 90s, into real estate, out at real eastate market peak 05-07 to buy stocks dirt cheap and get back into the market at 6500.
In the course of decay and deterioration of the favor of the people the gods instructed their clone host tools in corporate to make changes to their products and subsequently in people's lives. The switch to plastic/disposable-based packaging is an outstanding example. Another is the extensive use/proliferation of disposable diapers. Whereas diaper services were the norm during the 20th cenutry a change occurred in the 70s/80s and parents began to incurr evil upon their children, and sadly in some cases think they were "earning" off their own infant children!!!
Anyways, why I bring this up is I am watching the South PArk's rendition of Scientology's dogma. They mention Xena, ruler of the last planet.
Recall I said only the true believers in JEsus will last to the end of the 1000 years and be used to colonize the next Planet Earth (with Lucifer, who will initiate disfavor on the new planet).
Don't be surprised if the last Jesus's name WAS Xena. Maybe a stretch but nothing surprises me.
Perhaps the volcano metaphor suggests destruction by subduction. I have mentioned massive, global subduction as a method of demise in the past.
"Poisoning their brainwashed minds." xtainity brainwashed you. Liberalism is the poison.
The gods used xtainity to demonize Lucifer, ensuring people refused to heed the teachings of THE SECOND COMING!!!. Lucifer is the Second Coming of Christ!!!
xtianity is the product of the Apostle's books of the New Testiment and can't be trusted to contain the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Just like each one of you corrupt whores, the gods could have tempted them with immortality if they lied when writing the New Tesatiment. Then the gods dictated verbatim specifically to parlay into the destructive phenominah known as xtianity.
We have seen the gods engage in similar behavior to keep people away from good religions, with the Jews in Palestine and Muslims recently post-9.11, demonizing both.
This is another of the god's wicked curveballs, their reverse positioning tool extensively employed, utilizing positioning to prepare for the Apocalypse and your "consolation prize" of "1000 years with Jesus on Earth".
"1000 years with Jesus" may start at different times for different people::::
Medical advances I mention below may already be invented, courtesy of biotechnology, but reserved for the wealthy.
Proof money is not favor:::Not only will they die before the masses, since their clock began sooner, but some of these individuals may have been "guinea pigs" in the perfection of these advances.
Just clone host fakes who were sold they are the lucky ones anyways.
Thomas welcome to the cold north. Actually it is not that difficult to grow even in zone 4 where I am. You may find you need to change the specific cultivar that you plant to accommodate the shorter growing season. Being in Burlington your season may be a little longer than you think do to the warming effect of the lake. The difference on the NY side along the lake as to where I live which is only about 20 miles west of the lake vary tremendously.
ReplyDeleteLove your green room.