Fruit
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The Guardian posted a short article today discussing the low production of French wine expected this year after a spring cold snap caused problems for grape growers, especially in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, although bad weather also affected other areas of the country. However, vintners are not yet sure about the quality of…
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NOAA’s Climate.gov blog has a good discussion of the mid-March freeze event by Jake Crouch. It describes how it fits into historical context both with the warm winter that preceded it and the comparison to average last frost dates. It also describes what damage it caused, both to peaches and blueberries as well as pastures.…
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The Southeast Farm Press posted a story today about the lack of peaches in South Carolina due to the combination of a warm winter followed by a severe frost in mid-March, which killed off about 90% of the peaches in the state this year. The estimated losses to the SC peach crop are estimated at…
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Watermelon is one of my favorite summer foods (in fact, I love them any time of year!). But they weren’t always the red and sweet fruit we have today. Here is an interesting story from Food and Wine about how watermelons were bred into the delicious fruit that we have today. You can read it…
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In spite of continuing a continuing drought designation by Georgia’s EPD due to low water supplies in Lake Lanier, rain has returned to much of northeast Georgia. Grape growers are very pleased at this year’s wetter conditions and say that their vines are looking great, according to the Gainesville Times here. Now they are hoping…
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It’s no surprise that weather has a big effect on crop development this time of year. The floods in the Midwest have been particularly bad for farmers, but other regions have also experienced impacts from frost and other extreme weather. Here is a sampling of recent stories I have read that caught my eye. AgWeb:…
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Here’s an interesting story about how apple production has changed due to changes in how the trees are grown using new dwarfing rootstocks. The example is from Washington State, but I’m sure that this change in management style is occurring all over the US. You can read it at NPR here.