FARMING AND GARDENING WITH THE WEATHER

Using weather history, one can know that cold waves will cross the Mississippi around the dates listed below.  The fronts reach Western states 24 to 48 hours prior to their arrival in the Midwest; they reach the East 24 to 48 hours later. Major storms are most likely to occur on the days between May 8 - 14 and May 17 - 23.

May 2: “Lilac Winter” often arrives with the first days of May, threatening frost to the northern states.
--In the South and well up past the 40th Parallel, cooler weather after this front and the moon’s position in its early first quarter combine to favor clipping of feet, shearing, docking tails and all kinds of spring planting.
--Rising soil temperatures at this time of month invite commercial cabbage planting across the North and completion of the planting of oats and other spring grains throughout the central states. Cut fresh asparagus as it shoots up in the sun.

May 7:  Mild days between the first and second May fronts bring out the tomato and bean plants to the garden, but watch for frost between the 8th and the 12th.
--By the time this front passes through your fields, the remaining canopy of leaves closes quickly. Continue the seeding of field corn and soybeans as conditions permit. Typically, the first half of May is better than the second half for fieldwork. Across the South, haying is in full swing in anticipation of wetter weather toward the end of the month. And strawberry time spreads North at the same rate as that of spring, bringing in the sweet, red berries all the way from Arkansas to Tennessee and the Carolinas.

May 12:  Just as tender bedding plants are set out before Mother’s  Day, the last really dangerous, frost-bearing front of the spring moves across the nation.  Two days after the passage of the May 12th cold wave, mild weather often occurs, helping the new seeds to sprout.

May 15: The Strawberry Rains often follow the arrival of the May 15th cool front (and the ripening of strawberries in the southern and central states). Clouds and precipitation sometimes remain through the end of May, the stagnation reflecting a general slowdown in the conflict between spring and summer.
--Although fields planted prior to late-May rains are almost sure to sprout now, cool and damp conditions can stunt growth in soggy fields. On the other hand, in the West, winter rains are ordinarily over at this point in the spring, signaling the beginning of shearing season.
 
May 20: The Strawberry Rains, accompanied by a host of slugs, may continue to plague pastures and hay fields as this front approaches, but plan to make the first cut of alfalfa along
the 40th Parallel after the high-pressure system comes through and the weather clears up.
    --If you set out your commercial and home garden tomatoes now, they should be relatively safe from freezing temperatures. Canadian thistles and nodding thistles are blooming or are about to bloom throughout most of the nation.

May 24: Although the last week of May is often cool (bringing the last serious chance of frost to the North) gradually rising temperatures will soon be having an effect on the amount of food your livestock will need since metabolic rate rises with the thermometer.