Spring watch

I spent a fair amount of time in the garden this weekend, mostly cleaning up the asparagus patch and planting some spinach and onions.  There is very little growth to report.  Nighttime temperatures are still dipping below freezing and daytime highs are in the low to mid 50s.  As T.S. Eliot foretold to gardeners, April is the cruelest month.  The unfortunate side to the miserable weather forecast (1-3 inches of snow tomorrow!) is not only the delay of the gardening season, but the absolute loss of potential growth of various crops.  A recent story by the AP regarding climate said most Americans are fairly happy with the change in America's weather.  90% of the country has experienced milder winters over the past 20 years and only marginally warmer summers.  It turns out that is exactly what most people desire.  The problem that will eventually occur is the summers in places like New York City and south is the summers will become brutally hot.  Until that happens, climate change will remain a punchline.  Meanwhile, residents of the NCR as well as many locations at latitude 40 and above are not getting the benefit of milder winters or warmer summers.  It doesn't look like anyone will be planting palm trees on Lake Champlain anytime soon.