Its April 18th and its 13 degrees

      Starting a garden in Eastern Idaho can be very discouraging.  We are in the middle of April and have had overnight temperatures between 13 and 25 degrees for two weeks.  Due to the unusual and unpredictable weather patterns here it is hard to know when to plant a garden.  If a garden is planted too soon the plants will die from the overnight freezes.  If we wait too long then there won't be enough time for plants to grow to maturity, because of the short growing season.  We use our three unheated greenhouses to extend the growing season, but our outdoor garden needs to be planted soon.