Cold Dirt

I've got some early corn and I want to get it in the ground ASAP.  Corn likes the soil to be around 85° and currently my soil is stuck around 62°.  Black plastic sheeting should increase the temp at least 10° (I hope!)  I sued my new "corn bed" to test this out.

So far it's been disappointing, actually not seeing any temperature increase at all.  I find this perplexing to be honest, I don't understand how this can work for farmers all around the world but not for me.  Maybe my thermometer is broken!  ;0)

I chipped away the perimeter of the bed to pull soil away, then lay the plastic down and drag the soil back up to the edge to hold the plastic down.  That's a long sentence.