Admittedly, there is precious little snow in Gorham before Christmas. That said, it's not usually 40-50 degrees either. In years past, I would have welcomed the extended fall weather and hoped that it lasted until spring. This year, I keep wondering when winter is coming. How will my poor daffodil and tulip bulbs fare without a frozen ground? Will my garlic and shallots decide to send up shoots just before the weather freezes? Oh! The drama!
Since weather is so important to a successful garden, I put together a makeshift weather station on one of the fenceposts. I'm sure there are all sorts of fancy weather tools out there, but this one served me well to get an approximate idea of the season. I grabbed a $3 thermometer from the local Blue Seal and marked up an old, squarish tupperware container to measure rainfall.
As far as I know, thermometers are all created equal and while some of the cool fancy ones can be programmed to automatically record high and low temperature for a given day, the cheap-o one did a good job letting me know when the weather was right for planting my squash and my peppers. When I remembered to jot it down, I had my own record of highs and lows.
Not all rain gauges are the same and here's where the math comes in. A rain gauge needs straight sides to be accurate. If your gauge is wider at the top than it is at the bottom, you can still calculate your rainfall amount through the magic of math. Don't ask me how - there are people for this. Suffice to say, it can be done, but your simpliest method is just to make sure your rain gauge is the same size from the bottom to the top. My rain gauge is mostly straight and the 1/2" marks that I added are as close as I can make with a plastic ruler and a sharpie. It seemed to work well for me. As a hobby gardener, I don't need an accurate to the mL measurement.
The thermometer and the rain gauge need to be clear of obstacles to work best. Trees and overhangs can give you false readings from both devices. You also want to make sure they are securely attached to whatever surface you have put them on. You don't want your weather station to blow away.
I'm hoping that Santa will bring me some updated weather recording tools for Christmas. My fondness for all things scientific always leads me toward the coolest gizmos, but in the end, I have to say that my $5 weather station has served me well.
