And well, well below normal temps.We should by now be all the way to burning. And we're not. Instead we've had a steady decline in warmth as the growing season has gotten shorter and shorter.Our plants spent another night in the house with us. Tomatoes. Lettuce, Peas and HerbsThis morning it was -2C or 28 F.Over night it was -7 C /19 F with the windchill. Helicopters being enlisted to keep grape crop warm as Arctic air mass moves into Niagara
Circulating warm air to the ground during unseasonably cold weather is commonly done at vineyards with wind machines — tall, engine-operated fans installed by farmers to prevent injury to their crops.Snow- Fort Erie, Ontario May 08/20About two-thirds of Niagara's Grape Growers of Ontario members use them but with daily frost advisories being expected for the next week some have even acquired helicopters to keep on standby to warm up local vineyards, said chair Matthias Oppenlaender, who operates a farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake."This is very unusual," said Oppenlaender about the frigid temperatures people in his industry are getting ready to embrace this weekend and into next week.He recalled spring frosts in 2002 and 2012, but nothing of the magnitude of what could be coming."This cold, I'm not sure if I remember anything like that," he said.If thermometers drop a few degrees below the freezing mark, there will be problems."We'll get very concerned if we get to -3C tonight or the next couple of nights," he said Friday."Everybody is pretty anxious and nervous," he added.If it gets this cold, he said crops could be reduced by half depending on what stage they are in and what variety of grape they are."Anything colder than that could be pretty detrimental," he said.
Some pictures from my back porch today around noon- May 09/20Looking out my back porch- no leaves on treesGarlic and horseradish in the garden. A mulberry tree that is as bare as winter time. We continue to be approx 12- 15 C below normal for this time of year. With another heavy frost warning for tonight. I live in one of the warmer parts of Canada.
