Don't plant tomatoes now

Don't do it! Even without the Arctic Blast this weekend, it's still to early. 

People get so hyped up to plant tomatoes, squash, peppers, and beans around now, but it's too darn cold. My anecdotal observations from having spent a lot of time working outdoors the past ten years is that spring is cold for longer than you expect and fall is warm for longer than you expect. I always think of May as a very warm month, but it's just not. And I think of September as chilly weather for long sleeves, but there were 80 and 90 degree days last September. 

So when to plant tomatoes? (And all the rest of that warm stuff) 

No earlier than May 15th. Memorial Day weekend is the classic time to plant tomatoes and I agree. I've planted them May 15th before, and they just sit there in the dirt until late May when they take off and grow rampantly. So it's kind of pointless to put them in May 15th, in my opinion.

And when is it too late? I took home some stragglers from Natureworks and planted them in probably the third week of June. Didn't get any tomatoes, but that's because they were long-maturing varieties. If I had put in a quick-maturing 60 day tomato at that time, I think it would have been fine. So I would say you can plant tomatoes all through the first few weeks of June, but as it gets later, be careful about the variety you plant--make sure it matures quickly.