Fruit
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Tropical Storm Isaias crossed Puerto Rico last week on its long path from the eastern Atlantic through the Northeast US, bringing strong winds and heavy rains which contributed to landslides and power outages. The island, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017, experienced significant losses in several crops, including bananas, plantains, and coffee.…
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Apples require relatively cool weather, so there are large parts of the Southeast where they don’t grow effectively. In Georgia, apples are grown commercially mainly in the northeast, where cooler temperatures make it easier to grow them. As the climate continued to get warmer, producers are worried about the long-term viability of growing apples as…
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A story this week in Yale Climate Connections discusses how some French wine growers are planting their vines next to trees to help keep temperatures more moderate, which will extend the ability of French varietals to grow in areas that are warming up due to climate change. Because most growers cannot move their vineyards, they…
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According to a story from UGA by Paul Pugliese, “This year has been a terrible year for mummy berry disease due to the unusually cool, wet spring weather. Late freezes also predisposed leaves and flower buds to infection.” Mummy berry is a fungal disease of blueberry plants that causes blueberries to dry, shrivel and drop…
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According to reports from earlier in June, North Carolina may have experienced its best strawberry season ever. A relatively mild spring with no major frost events helped growers prolong this year’s growing season. Growers were able to get an early start to the season using row covers, which allowed some plants to start flowering as…
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I love all summer fruit, but one of my favorites has to be the watermelon. Good thing I live in the South! It’s easy to find them here, and they taste great. But that was not always the case. Atlas Obscura has an interesting story about the history of the watermelon and how it was…
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In spite of a lot of worry on the part of peach farmers this year with a warm winter limiting chill hours and some late frosts occurring after a warm start to the season, Georgia peach producers are welcoming an abundance of peaches this year. According to a story by WSB television, the weather this…