Phantom Spring

     The only things loving this warm weather more than I am are the goats that are coming on average at one a day around here... 60 degrees in January is unseasonable even for Tennesseans, and records indicate the entire country is a good 7 - 10 degrees above their standards for this time of year. But lest you get too giddy, my farmer friends say "be warned" ...We may be loving it now, but what it can mean to crops and flowering things in the months ahead could prove to be more than a challenge.
     What we are experiencing right now is also known as a "false spring" or "black spring". It may be fun now, but what it portends for the growing season ahead could mean anything but and here's why:
     Not only do plants need a cold season, our critters do too. Right now I'm watching my Pyrenees molt as if preparing for things to get warmer, but what happens with a sudden snap which is sure to happen? (I'm trusting mine will be fine; it will just make for some extra brushing, after all, mine know where to find a heat lamp should it get down to it) but my bigger concern is for the flea and ticks that are not having their season this winter. Without a proper freeze to kill off eggs and larvae that wind up in the ground, get ready. Sunny Januarys may be fun now, but what it means to the flea and tick population for the summer months ahead I predict will not be pretty. (Oh joy.)
     And what about our plants? Well, for starters, plants (by nature) brace for the cold. Internally they prepare for winter by creating an antifreeze of sorts, converging frozen carbs in their stems to resist the freeze. As anyone can tell by spotting a dormant plant in winter, they don't normally bud this time of year, but instead protect tender new growth that would otherwise be most susceptible to cold temperatures for when it's safe to do that springtime budding thing.
     So what happens when nature fakes them out? They bud early. (Take a look at Florida where the fruits are starting to sprout.) Toss an otherwise normal winter freeze on top of them after this happens and you get what farmers call black spring, meaning plants start to grow, then they get zapped by a cold snap, then everything dies and the entire season gets thrown off kilter.
     What's worse, it won't take much of a cold snap to do it...Anything below 32 (as could happen this weekend) could do serious damage to plants that otherwise brace for such so as to survive the winter, but right now, aren't sure if they are coming or going. (Do I bloom or do I sleep? What's a plant to do?)