You have more patience than I do. I'd swear ! I think you should cover your most prized items.

We're going down to 7.

Would I do more harm than good if I covered? It's also raining. Wet and cold tomato plants covered with a tarp?

Supposed to go down to 8 here with a windchill of +5! LOL Happy August!

Here too, low of 4 with risk of frost. Crazy!

Well I can't really believe it might freeze, but I took NAF's advice. It didn't really take that long to shove a few containers into the shed and cover the tomatoes.
I usually have a pretty good sense of when a frost is in the air, and honestly this doesn't feel like it. We'll see.

If the ground is soggy (as it is here), frost is unlikely this early in the season. The early August frosts of 2002 occurred, in part, because the ground was very dry.

This cold in August ?

Global warming, maybe, but not where I sit.

Climate change without a doubt.

Has anyone ever experienced years of crappy growing seasons like we have lately?

When I was younger, planting was May 22 long weekend, it was always warm enough, and I never had a problem with most of my tomatoes being green by the time the season was over.

This year I'll be lucky if I get to eat 10 tomato sandwiches! :(

Well, last year's season was fabulous from end to end. I knew we would pay for it, but I wasn't expecting we would pay for it so soon :(

I did notice a sort of pattern in the last decade at least here in Saskatoon:
2004 and 2009 - very cold summers with frost in every month
2005 and 2010 - cool summers with lots of rain
2006 and 2011 - warm and dry summers
2007 and 2012 - warm and wet summers
2008 and 2013 - slightly cool summers although 2008 was very dry and 2013 has been neither wet nor dry, on average.
"Summer" being the months of June through August.

If the pattern is to repeat, we are due for a cold, frosty summer next year. Here's hoping I'm wrong!!! In 2004, we had frost on June 26, July 30 and August 20. Yes, I can remember the dates off the top of my head :)

This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Thu, Aug 8, 13 at 0:41

If frost threatened now, I would definitely cover frost-sensitive plants, as you've probably got another 4-6 weeks of growing season ahead of you. It becomes questionable in September when frost threatens, and really why bother covering for another cold week at the end of the season?

But early-August frost? Yes, definitely protect.

So Slimy, according to your information we've only had two summers since 2004 that were ideal for gardening, especially for tomatoes. 2006 and 2011. Yikes! Your prediction for next year better be wrong.....

Thanks for the yearly tally :)

I had frost July 31 this year. I would cover anything sensitive. I think this is the wettest year I have ever had gardening. We only have half our hay done and it would be considered cow feed. I better get a great September, October. This is crazy. Cheryl

Well it didn't freeze. Didn't even come close. They said it would clear up and drop to 3. It rained and got down to about 9.
Today it is cloudy with wind and misty rain every now and then. So far the temp has managed to get up to 15. But the forecast is better for the next few days. We MIGHT get some summer yet!

EC forecasting +4 and a risk of frost for Saskatoon, but none of the weather models indicate anything less than 6. I'm going to gamble and not cover anything.
I noticed Wynyard got down to about +2 this morning.

Glad to hear everthing is okay

Is everyone using Enviro Canada's Weather? I find that other sources vary. I don't remember the really early frosts from other years, but I do know that if I had covered my plants one night in the Fall, I could have kept my garden going for another month afterwards. By that time, I was sick of tending it, so I was glad to see the dreaded F word! We all have microclimates in our yards, I know I hear other people in town or just outside of town comment about getting frost while others aren't hit at all.

I use the NAM and GFS models provided by NOAA. They are pretty accurate for short-range forecasts.

I don't know what NAM and GFS and NOAA are, but I use TWN on the PC and the TV :)

Sorry, just had to throw that in there :)

I listen to them half the time and a friend the other. His forecast is always "we're going to have weather" and he's as accurate as anybody, LOL!