If the first six months of the year are any indication, 2023 will go down as the “Year of the Wacky Weather.” I honestly cannot remember a stranger start to a growing season, and to cap it all off, many areas in Southwest Colorado just experienced a light frost. On June 24.

This frost, which nipped my tomatoes and peppers (but did greater damage in other parts of the area), was the culmination of a cold start to summer. It seems that summer is a “go” now, but it sure took a while.

I keep track of temperature readings at my house in Durango, and I have been left scratching my head – and the small amount of hair left on it – time and time again. My timeline:

May 8: The last time I reached a temperature of 30 degrees. No problem, no tender vegetables in the garden yet.May 20: Plant my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Lows had been in the 40s and the forecast did not call for any cold fronts, so I went for it.June 18: First day to reach 80 degrees, which felt way later than I ever remembered. Makes for great sleeping weather.June 23: Thirteenth day when the low was 38 degrees or below.June 24: Light frost. Seriously?June 25: Shrug shoulders, prune off frosted areas of tomatoes and peppers, pack for vacation. Fly to the beach and tell my plants “good luck.”

Who creates a growing season like this, especially after our epic snowfall and lingering snowpack from this past winter? Who can be this sadistic sometimes?

Mother Nature can; and occasionally, she can make growing really challenging. So far, in 2023, we have accumulated, roughly, about 800 growing degree days, a measurement that estimates the growth and development of plants and insects during the growing season. To calculate, add the high temperature (maximum reading would be 86 degrees, as plant growth slows considerably above that) and the low temperature of the day, and divide by 2. From that number, subtract the base temperature (for most vegetables, it is around 50 degrees), and that value will be how many growing degree days, or units, you accumulated. For example, on Tuesday, the high was 88 and the low was 56 (88 + 56 = 144). Divide that by two (72) and then subtract 50, and you will get 22 units. By comparison, the first 10 days of June had all of 75 units.

And when you compare it with last year, or the year before that, we are about 300 units behind. In my estimation, that is about two weeks behind normal – a challenge when your growing season is only about 20 weeks long.

Uh oh.

But that is gardening, and no matter how frustrated I can get, I have to remind myself that, for me, this is just a hobby (and an occasional job duty). My “paycheck” doesn’t depend on our challenging climate. Remember that when you raise your eyebrow at the cost of lettuce, or potatoes, or squash at your local farmers market.

Darrin Parmenter is the director and horticulture agent of the La Plata County Extension Office. Reach him at [email protected] or 382-6464.