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Warm April will try to lure gardeners to too early planting
Whenever warm weather starts wafting around, gardeners and small scale farmers start itching to start “starts” - plants grown in doors to get a jump on our short growing season. Many of us jump the gun and get them in the ground too early, lulled by the siren song of a sunny day before an April or even May cold snap kills the crops. We may get that temptation again this April.
March storms battered the region last month and even April started on a snowy note but the rest of the month should be calmer. March turned out to be one degree warmer than normal. Precip continued to be less than normal but not as bad as last year. Since January 1st, we are down a half inch in rain equivalent which would be about five inches in snow.
April may run four degrees warmer than normal. Precip may continue to be a half inch shy of normal. I feel this is semi-good news for gardeners. Heat has been getting a bad rap due to climate change concerns but gardeners and farmers know crops don’t grow in the cold. On the other hand, most folks who work the soil around here know even a warm April could be too good to be true. People who heed that siren’s call to garden early often get disappointed by May cold snaps.
This April should run sunny and mild from the first to the 12th. The 13th to 20th could be full of the classic April showers. The 21st to 30th should be showery and warm. Don’t let that mild April influence your planting schedule. May may go back to the cold side.
