Gardeners let out big sighs of relief

PROVO — The wild spring storms that hit Utah this week didn't lift the state out of a drought.

But the good news for farmers is that strong winds and driving rains did little, if any, damage to crops, according to farmers and agriculture experts.

Lyle Holmgrem, agent for the Utah State University Agricultural Extension Office in Box Elder County, said the weather, although off-and-on chilly throughout the week, hasn't turned cold enough to damage the fruit.

A cold front swept across the Wasatch Front on Wednesday. That day, Salt Lake International Airport recorded a 64-degree temperature at 9:56 p.m. By 1:40 p.m., the temperature had dropped to 36 degrees. "(Orchards) had an early bloom, but so far there's no serious damage," Holmgrem said.

Nor has the weather been cold enough to hurt wheat, alfalfa or sweet corn, the three major crops in Utah County.

Still, fruit grower Morris Ercanbrack said he is carefully watching the temperatures.

"If the cloud cover stays it will surely be nice. Our fruit is still very vulnerable," said Adrian Hinton, horticulturist for the USU extension in Utah County.

Fruit growers usually look to May 15 as the end of the frost danger, unless freak arctic air blows in.

Temperatures below 27 degrees Fahrenheit would kill the fruit, Hinton said.

Back-yard gardeners who have planted tomatoes should cover the plants until the danger of frost passes, he said. Holmgrem said gardeners could cover them with paper or even empty milk jugs with the bottoms cut out.

Box Elder County is the No. 2 Utah producer of peaches, apples, sweet cherries and some pears and apricots, with about 15 percent of the crop.

Utah County is No. 1 in the state, growing about 80 percent.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com