– It’s a fantastic feeling. We have been kicking the wall since November, when we finished the fall. We have been looking forward to spring, says carrot producer Asbjørn Stokkeland. He is one of the largest carrot producers in Norway with around 15 per cent of production. The carrots he now sows at Brusand on Jæren will be ready for St. Hans. Asbjørn Stokkeland is confident that the carrot season this year will be very good. Photo: Johan Mihle Laugaland / news Cold March But the seed that has come into the ground can have a slightly tough start to the growing season. From next week, a cold period is expected across the country, says Erik Kolstad. He is a climate researcher at NORCE and the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research and head of the research center Climate Futures, which publishes seasonal forecasts every month. Kolstad says to expect colder weather than normal for the month of March. The carrots need plastic to cope with the nighttime cold. With it, they can cope with some minuses at night. Photo: Asbjørn Stokkeland – I see in the long-term forecast for Yr that freezing temperatures have been reported in many places in southern Norway in the first spring month. It seems that winter is holding on a little longer, says Kolstad. How long the cold period will last is uncertain, but in any case next week will be cold. Usually there is a belt of strong winds from the west in the stratosphere that steers the low pressure towards the coast in winter. But sometimes the winds break or change direction, Kolstad explains. – Then there will typically be high pressure with fine and dry weather, and quite cold. A SURE SIGN OF SPRING: Eirik Ravndal has dragged his cows out to Jæren. Photo: Eirik Ravndal. I think it will go well February was unusually mild in Rogaland. At the Meteorological Institute, they see the same as Kolstad when it comes to March. – Spring starts with winter, says on-duty meteorologist Martin Granerød. It gets cold from Lindenes to the Nordkapp, but in coastal areas the temperature in the sea affects it and it doesn’t get as cold. The forecasts indicate that the cold will come at the beginning and middle of next week, but with greater uncertainty towards next weekend. On Wednesday and Friday, temperatures between 10–13 ℃ are expected in the lowlands of Østafjells ☀️ Colder weather is expected from the weekend onwards. Good to remember if someone is already thinking it might be a good idea to start planting flowers, write the meteorologists. Graphics: Meteorological Institute There will be a lot of unsettled weather, but it may also be that there will be some snow in the South and East Norway over the next week. – But it is more certain that it will be cold than that it will snow, says Granerød. At Jæren, they are not worried – yet. The carrots and potatoes are under plastic. – The plastic keeps the heat in the soil, otherwise it would not have been possible to sow so early, says Stokkeland. On Tromøya near Arendal, they have also sown carrots. They have done the same at Brunlanes in Vestfold. – It is common that these places are out early in addition to Jæren, says specialist for vegetables at the Norwegian Agricultural Advisory Service in Rogaland, Kari Aarekol, She explains that both for carrots and potatoes they put seeds in the ground. They cope better with the cold than plants. – A couple of minuses at night mean nothing. The frog can do that. But it had not worked out with cabbage plants. In two days, carrots have been sown on 40 acres at Jæren. Photo: Asbjørn Stokkeland At Randaberg, Torleif Todnem put the potatoes in the ground on 18 February. – We are betting that we will be able to harvest the potatoes on 10 May. We managed that last year. Then it was in record time. So we hope for the same this year, says Tondem. Torleif Todnem planted potatoes on February 18 at Randaberg. He thinks they will be ready for 10 May despite the cold in March. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – You don’t fear that it will be too cold at night? – The experience we have means that we ensure that it will go perfectly well. Stokkeland believes that the season this year will be very good, now that they are assured of stream support until 2024. – I hereby declare the spring at Jæren open!
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Spring has come – but it can be cold – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
