wrote in message
DOMAIN-IN.SIG wrote:

Are there any other NZ gardeners with specific plans or info on
the forecast? MetService's site is a bit hard to figure out, as
far as this medium term (next few weeks.) I am in Wellington.

I'm no expert but this cold snap will keep soil temperatures low and
there will be no advantage to planting early, or this weekend. As an
experiment (in the Hawkes Bay) I planted dwarf bean seedlings about a
month ago - purchased at Supermarket. It was pure experiment as I
knew we would probably get frosts. We did - some beans survived but
they simply haven't grown. Reminded me years ago, in the Wairarapa,
spending a great deal of time with early tomatoes nurturing them
tenderly, protecting with them plastic and newspaper - but which
fruited at the same time as those planted weeks later! Seems Nature
will have her way!

One of the ways of warming soil before there were plastic products around
was to spread soot on the ground around seedlings. Being black it warmed
the soil. I've always meant to give it a try.