An abrupt swing from hot weather to cold across the Northeast is frustrating some flower and fruit farmers who have had to either harvest blooms extra early or fear they could lose some crops altogether.
Frosty nights aren鈥檛 unusual this time of year. Across the region, the average date of the last frost ranges from mid-April to early June, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. But the first half of April for much of the region, and that, coupled with the quick drop in temperature, could cause some problems.
Some parts of New England saw temperatures climb into the 80s last week followed by snow a few days later. And the cold continued into this week: The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for Monday night and Tuesday morning for parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
In Ohio, the warm weather pushed peach and apple trees to start budding early at Apple Hill Orchards, which includes about 80 acres in Mansfield and 110 acres in Fredericktown. But the temperature then dropped into the low 20s, ruining one variety of peach, said owner Anne Joudrey.
鈥淔arming is farming, and you never know what you鈥檙e gonna get, but we had a pretty good bloom, so we were expecting a pretty good crop,鈥� she said Monday.
The apples were doing OK, she said, and it helps that the trees are planted on high ground so cold air drains away.
鈥淲e should fare pretty well, hopefully,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut you never know.鈥�
In Vermont, the temperature swing affected operations at Understory Farm in Bridport, which grows cut flowers. Tulips that were supposed to be ready for Mother鈥檚 Day in mid-May have already bloomed in the farm鈥檚 greenhouses, said owner Gregory Witscher.
鈥淭hat just means that we have to harvest them all at the same time,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to harvest them and store them with the bulbs on in crates in a walk-in cooler for longer.鈥�
Witscher grows about 50 varieties of flowers for wholesale markets. Weather fluctuations require flexibility, he said, and it鈥檚 become more common for small vegetable and flower farms to have row covers or heaters to protect plants from cold or shade cloth for extreme heat.
鈥淲ith the hot weather and then the cold weather, I think its intense, and it makes things challenging,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he longer I do this, the more I want to have as many options as possible and have a lot of tools and resources available to be extremely nimble.鈥�