Last Frost
30 April - 4 May: 3rd Microseason of Kokuu (Grain rains)
Hello, and thanks for reading my newsletter, on art and the seasons.
These past few days, I have enjoyed the slight but perceptible lift in temperatures, into the teens! This inspired me to delve a bit into the science of last frost dates and what this means for our garden plans.
This year, we decided to try our hand at growing some vegetables - we transformed a sunny closet into a space for our seedlings. In the meantime, we’ve constructed a small raised bed in the backyard for transplanting later in the season.
Last frost dates are a helpful guide for deciding when it’s safe to release our little plant to the elements. Areas are split into different zones, which give a rough estimate (a 10 day window) of when the evenings of frost might be behind us. Edinburgh is split into two zones, between 1 - 10th of May (Zone 12) and 11-20th of May (Zone 13).
I decided to look at the trajectory of temperatures in Edinburgh over the past microseason. It would seem to me - with a bit of cautious enthusiasm - that we might very well have experienced the last frost!
A last frost does not mean that we should plant everything in the garden though. Start with hardy, cold-weather plants, such as root vegetables. Hold off on the warm-weather plants, such as peppers and tomatoes.
Sketchbook(?) Notes:
I love allotments; there is always so much to draw! Here is a piece I made, inspired by a recent picture of some local garden spaces.
I’ve been inspired to try a bit of a different approach to my art this week - starting with a messy layer of ink and pastel in colours I don't naturally turn to, then detailing things with a combination of coloured pencils and Neocolour IIs. I thinks it’s making me a bit more playful with my marks and colour and more adventurous on my use of value, too!
I think I still have a tendency to overwork, though. I might try a timer to loosen things up further for the next microseason. Until then,
Natalie
For a map of last frost zones, check here
For a helpful guide to cold and warm weather plants, check this blog post!