Getting your garden off to an early start is fun and rewarding.
The fun part is helping
your plants outmaneuver Mother Nature and grow better and faster
with your help than
they could on their own.

It’s also rewarding to have fresh-from-your-garden vegetables
days or even weeks
before your neighbors. Planting early helps you avoid many
insect and disease
problems, too.

There’s no doubt about it. An early garden can be highly
rewarding. The bad news is
that late spring frosts can wipe out young warm-season
vegetables before you can say
Jack Frost.

The good news is that keeping Jack Frost out of your spring
garden isn’t hard to do. It
just requires some planning ahead of time.

The key to avoiding frost is knowing the average date of the
last spring frost for your
area. In the press this is usually called the spring average
frost date.

The average frost date doesn’t predict the exact date on which
the last spring frost will
occur. It’s the average date of the last spring frost based on
annual observations over
many years.

How do you use the AFD to schedule planting of an early garden?

The actual frost date in any year is usually within two weeks of
the AFD. So by
delaying planting your garden until two weeks after the AFD, you
can be all but certain
that when Jack visits, your veggies won’t be at home.

To effectively use the AFD to schedule planting your garden, you
must know the AFD
for YOUR area. The following table shows AFDs for a
number of places in Georgia.

If your area isn’t in the table, check with your county
extension
office (or call 1-800-ASK-UGA1) to find out the AFD for
your area.

To enjoy the benefits of an early garden, plant early — but not
too early!