For peaches sake: Farmers barely recover from freeze
Thanks to unseasonably warm temperatures in February and March, and a late freeze in early spring, fruit crops on Delmarva were in serious jeopardy.
Like a bad, distant dream, Hail Bennett of Bennett Orchards recalls the frigid night that almost did his farm in.
"I held my breath and reached for my wife's hand," he said. "We stayed up all night ... watching the thermometer dip lower, and lower."
His family's peach orchard, tucked away on Peachtree Lane in Frankford, had come to full bloom about three weeks ahead of schedule. After watching the weather reports, Bennett was hopeful, but feared the worst.
"What are we going to do?" Ashley, his wife, had asked.
"We are going to pray."
In reality, there isn't much farmers can do to combat disappointing weather. It comes with the job. However, there are a few tricks they can employ in an effort to save crops, like installing frost fans and heaters or even hiring helicopters to hover over their precious livelihood.
The latter is extremely costly — renting a chopper can run nearly $2,000 per hour — so this option is usually a "last resort kind of measure," he said.
How it works: when a frost event occurs there is a layer of cold air hugging the ground. The inversion layer is the point where the coldest air at ground level meets warmer air above it, much like a fog bank. When the helicopter rotors spin above, they pull the warmer air down from the inversion.
But the temperatures in April were too cold for it to work, and the freeze cost Bennett nearly half of his peach crop.
"It could have been so much worse ... we thought we were going to lose everything," he said.
Luckily, Bennett had a bountiful harvest of blueberries and exotic melons to supplement the loss, as well as enough peaches to continue to sell at local markets.
Sharon Dardine, board member of the Historic Lewes Farmers Market, said Bennett peaches are one of the market's biggest draws.
"They are an incredible asset to our market," she said. "There is always a line of 15 people or more at a time waiting to purchase peaches from them."
The farm has also managed to run its popular pick-your-own peach operation. However, it has only opened three times this season, compared to nearly 30 days last summer.
Want more peaches? Festival hit Berlin
While some blame it on a freak winter, and others on global warming, some believe the area has lost its touch for growing the fuzzy little fruit.
"This just isn't a good peach growing area anymore," said Jimmy Harris, owner of Harris Market in Salisbury.
The Salisbury native recalls a childhood spent running through fields of peach orchards on North and South Salisbury Boulevard, all of which have since been paved over.
"It's not just because of construction," he said. "Delmarva's climate has changed. Don't get me wrong — there's nothing wrong with local peaches. But farms just can't grow enough anymore to supply my business. It's a shame really."
His market, located on South Division Street, sells anywhere from 25 to 30,000 half bushels of peaches, sourced from farms in South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Harris' out-of-state peaches will be the major supplier at Berlin's upcoming annual Peach Festival, Aug. 6, in downtown Berlin.
Festival organizer Sandra Dewey said a few small farms, like Garden of Eden in Salisbury and independent grower Jason Cole, will also provide peaches, but the season, unfortunately, took too much of a hit to host a purely Delmarva-grown peach festival.
"I'm not a grower so I cannot begin to understand the magnitude of how they must be feeling," she said. "But I do think all of Delmarva is hurting a little. Peaches are one of summer's greatest pleasures."
Indeed, the freeze hurt farms across the region.
T.S. Smith & Sons Farms in Bridgeville usually provides dozens of roadside markets with juicy, plump peaches. But after losing nearly 75 percent of its crop, the farm has barely been able to supply its own farmers markets on Route 13 and Route 40.
"Peaches are a commodity," Tom Smith said. "They are a huge cash flow for us, and this season has been devastating."
To make matters worse, the peaches weren't the only crop to suffer. The freeze ruined nearly all of T.S. Smith & Sons nectarines, and greatly affected planting sweet corn and cantaloupe crops on time.
"Our quality is great, that's not the problem," he said. "The supply just isn't there. As a farmer, a bad season is just one of those things you have to accept. But it's been really, really hard."
Parsons Farm in Dagsboro took a slight hit this season, losing about 20 percent of its blueberry crop. Like many of the local peaches, the berries bloomed before Mother Nature was ready to let go of winter.
"Luckily, we've got seven varieties out here," Paul Parsons said. "Some did better than others, but they were all, across the board, much smaller this year."
Assateague Farm & Nursery in Berlin lost its peach crop entirely, although the loss wasn't a completely crushing blow.
The family owned and operated farm, located near Assateague Island and Frontier Town Campground, makes a killing with its firewood operation. The farm also offers a variety of fresh produce, herbs and honey, as well as RV, bicycle, kayak and paddle board rentals.
"We were experimenting with peaches," owner Steve Buckman said. "Our trees were very young, so we did end up losing them all. But did it cripple us? No."
While Delmarva farmers, and peach lovers alike, are crossing their fingers for a normal winter, some fear the worst has only begun.
"I hate to say it, but I believe global warming played a big factor here," Smith said. "I think it's going to continue. Maybe not every year — Good Lord let's hope not. But I think seasons like this one, where there's total destruction because the weather was out of whack, is going to start occurring more frequently."
302-537-1881, ext. 207
On Twitter @hcarroll_1
On Instagram @thesassy_banana