Has anyone followed this, and if so, found it to be accurate or inaccurate? I was surprised to enter my zip code and be advised to plant things often a month earlier than I have usually done. Perhaps I've just been too cautious in the past? I've never started any warm weather veggies (beans, cukes, etc) before 1st of June, but the calendar says OK to direct sow in mid-April (???) I'm willing to give it a whirl, but wondering how the planting dates might match up with your experiences.

Quite often I agree that they suggest planting too early for us. On the other hand, I have to remember that seeds planted very early might not germinate until they get warm enough. So you get the benefit of any early warmth for gain a few weeks. Only caveat would be if your weather tends to go up and down like a yoyo. And the poor seedlings get caught in a late frost. Course you can always use row or whatever works in your area.

I too am going to try planting seeds in my raised beds a bit earlier. I have hoops over top and will put poly over then to gain a bit more warmth. I am thinking around the middle of April for cold weather crops like lettuce, carrots& brocs etc. All the other stuff gets started indoors.

Stupid dahlias, lilies, crocus, daffys are trying to grow now. I brought the pots in from the garage and have them huddled next to the three aero gardens and two grow lamps to share the light. I should have the spring flowers wayyyy before the snow is even gone outside.

Deb ...

It's quite inaccurate for my zip code. If I followed the planting guide, I doubt if anything would survive. Even the last frost date is off.

That said, planting calendars for mountain areas are rarely accurate. Too many micro-climates.

Smiles,
Lyn

It appears to be fairly accurate for my zip code, although I start nearly everything indoors. Dave did ask people to let him know when they notice inaccuracies in the planting calendar.

Oh. The planting calendar here! I think I looked once and it seemed quite a bit off. I will look again

I actually figured out why it is so wrong for me. When you plug in your zip code, it goes to the nearest (I suppose) weather station that tracks planting times. For me, that is Mount Vernon up in the Skagit Valley, which is much more protected from Puget Sound than I am. I have learned instead to plug in an Everett zip code which is closer to my micro-climate. I think once you pinpoint your 'best fit' this is a really nice feature.

Hmpf. How do you find out where the nearest weather station is? But then again, even if it says a zone 4 or 5 that only says how hot or cold it gets not for how long.

Mary Stella, as I recall when I first opened Goodies - Garden Calendar and inputted my zip code, I believe it used to say somewhere that it was using data for Mount Vernon (which is I assume the closest weather station). Now when I do that, it just says Stanwood (the city of my zip code). BUT, the little map that also pops up does not show any red pin for Stanwood, so I assume it is using info from the closest pin (Mount Vernon), which is off for me. I experimented by entering a couple of the other pinned zip codes and then picked the one that most closely represented my micro-climate and also made sense to me (based on my own experience, and in particular looking at when the calendar says to plant warm weather in-ground crops). Once I identified which one that was, I just use that zip code as my search. @Dave, is this how it works basically? If so, it may be helpful for the initial search to let folks know which precise weather station it is reading, which I thought it used to (but may be mis-remembering). Or, perhaps you could somehow let each member 'lock in' the pin that best fits their own personal micro-climate (in my case someone living further inland but still having a Stanwood 98292 zip code may well be able to use the Mount Vernon 98273 info). As an aside, you may also want to change out the ATP logo at the upper right to NGA, just a bit of housecleaning.

Kind of rambling, but back to Mary Stella, I entered 99501 for Anchorage into the calendar and the pin map shows 3 close locations in close proximity to Anchorage. You may want to open each of those to see which one best fits for your location, then use that zip for your search. Looks like two are coastal, and one is further inland. You can just click on the red pins to change the info.

That is basically the way it works, yes, and that's exactly why I included the map, so that people can click around and find the one actually nearest to their situation.

I will go take a look. There is no way it can be precise though as you know. Even in Anchorage there are three zones from 2-4. I am a 4 (at least). 80-90 the last two days and 40's at night. But that is very very unusual for us. Clear skies. Just glorious. It will go back to its usual 55-65 with overcast too soon for my taste.

I checked the calendar and it shows 'planting out seeds ' in March. I still have snow on the ground then. Well, not much this year but it was an incredibly light winter with little snow to begin with.