All the gardening stuff (books, magazines, this forum, etc.) note the importance of soil temperature when determining planting time.

I'm sure I could go to one these fancy garden supply sites on the Internet to order a soil thermometer, but I'm not interested in dropping extra bucks if I don't need to.

Can I check soil temperature with an old-fashioned thermometer? I mean the kind I could pick up at any drugstore or have already laying around at home?

Thanks in advance for helping a gardening newbie!

I don't think the thermometer has to be a special soil thermometer. I'm pretty sure the one I use is an old aquarium thermometer. A cheapo outdoor wall thermometer would probably work, too.

Then again, my book of old-fashioned garden wisdom says to just lean on your elbows in the soil and decide whether it's cold, cool, or warm. No, honey, I'm not napping in the garden. I'm testing the soil temperature!

Iused to call my local national weather service....they will know the soil temp.