Will Dalight Saving Time affect my gardening?

ASK THE HORT AGENT

Question: Will the change from Daylight Saving Time affect my gardening?

Answer: While I tend to agree with most of Benjamin Franklin’s ideas, I do not think this one benefits gardening. Everybody knows Daylight Saving Time is simply the one hour advancement of clocks in spring with a return to standard time in fall. Regardless of how it seems, the hours of sunlight per day does not change. There is no “saving” of daylight time. Daylight Time Shifting would be a more descriptive title.

The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (DST) is to make better use of daylight. While this is admirable, the premise of this concept is based on people wanting to have darkness while they sleep in the morning. DST has absolutely no bearing on farmers and other outdoor professions which start at sunrise and finish at sundown.

With DST, we have one more hour of sunlight in the evening when we get home from work. While that should translate into one more hour of yard work, it actually translates into one more hour of watching tv in the ac. It is too hot outside when the average person gets home from work. They end up waiting an hour before sunset to go outside. End result – same amount of time spent on chores.

Only 70 countries take part in DST. Japan, India, China and the majority of the African and South American continents do not use DST. In the US (and its territories), DST is not observed by Hawaii, Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Arizona. The Navajo Nation in Arizona does observe DST. However the Hopi Reservation, which is entirely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, doesn’t observe DST. Therefore, the Navajo Nation forms a donut-shaped area in Arizona observing DST.

Most gardeners do the bulk of their work on the weekends. During hot months, most gardeners prefer working outside during the coolest time of day – the morning. I’d rather have my extra daylight hour before lunch. If the government really wants to help gardeners, then give us Fridays off.

To learn more about Daylight Saving Time, visit http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/ If you do not have internet access, call me at 910-893-7533 or email me at gpierce@harnett.org

When told the reason for Daylight Saving Time, an old Hopi Indian said, “Only the Government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.”

Gary L. Pierce

Horticulture Extension Agent

Harnett County