Literally.
Temperatures were to get below zero (nul) last night. Yes! It is still cold here!
The fruit farmers were doing all they could to protect their blooms. One farmer interviewed on the news explained that he has turbines that can blow hot air into the ground raising the soil temperature by 4 degrees C. I guess that's a lot. I still have trouble with the C to F thing. Assuming the baseline is zeroC, then + 4C = 39F.
The hot air turbine is called a Frostbuster and you can get one of these for around $30,000 (tractor not included).
Fruit farming is big business in Belgium. With all the rain and the temperate climate, it is a prime location for growing apples, pears, cherries, hops :).
We're not fruit farmers, but our little apple tree appears to have fared okay. I hope Mother Nature wasn't any harsher on the rest of the trees around here.
I wish I had a frostbuster. That looks cool!
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