Posted on 05/27/2010 11:13:28 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Lack of sun keeps veggies underground
All the rain we've been having is a wardrobe issue for most of us as we are forced to keep the sundresses at bay, but it could spell big money trouble for Northern California farmers.
It's already caused a delay in several crops like tomatoes and zucchini. The extended winter weather well into springtime has caused them to delay sprouting. This time of year the farmers should be picking the veggies for market and they still haven't popped their little heads out of the ground.
There is more rain, wind and hail forecast for Thursday and that will only delay the little buggers even longer from doing what they are supposed to do -- and become our summer side dish. People who have cherry and apricot orchards are particularly worried because the wet weather is putting their entire crop at risk.
Yes, life is not a bowl of cherries these days at Tachella Family Farm n Brentwood.
"If we get a significant amount of rain and it's followed by a significant amount of heat it's gonna split the cherries and start the molding process and it molds overnight," Kathy Tachella said.
So far the rain hasn't caused too much damage, but if you look to the sky today you will see more rain is on the way.
Already, the rain and hail has left nicks in the fruit's skin.
"There's nothing you can do about it we can talk about it until we're blue in the face that's the life of a farmer," Tachella said.
For small family farms like this one, any loss hurts. The wild weather is good news for Tahoe-area resorts. Squaw Valley is reopening this weekend thanks to recent snowfall.
The unsettled weather is expected to move on by Thursday night. After that the holiday weekend looks dry and a bit warmer.
While this spring rainfall is unusual, experts say it is getting more attention because it follows three years of drought. And yes, El Nino has had at least some influence on the forecasts.
Gardening ping...
There were just several small cloudbursts here in the SF Bay Area.
Triple Crown of global cooling could pose serious threat to humanity
Sea surface temperatures, extremely low
solar activity and increased volcanic activity would lead to
widespread food shortages and famine
http://www.iceagenow.com/Triple_Crown_of_global_cooling.htm
The Looming Threat of Global Cooling
“You thought last winter was bad?
Wait until this winter”
http://www.iceagenow.com/Looming_Threat_of_Global_Cooling.htm
Persistent cold, wet weather delays crops, worries farmers
Snowpack 167 percent of normal
http://www.iceagenow.com/Persistent_cold_wet_weather_delays_crops-worries_farmers.htm
Rain drops keep falling on my head - ping
Not California but I understand. The early crops have had a hard time coming up, one field came up fine and was burned to a crisp by 65 mph winds.
We waited an additional 3 weeks to plant cotton because it was so cold and it looks like we hit a little window of good weather for a week and it came up growing but others around us are losing theirs. Cotton seed is about 275.00 an acre anymore so it kind of hurts to replant and you lose time on your growing season.
Last year in NJ rained every day in June except for 2 days
All the plants in my garden rotted
This year weather been good - yesterday hit 95 here!
The fruits here in California have always been confused...
You’ve been snooping into to my posts on the garden thread haven’t you...
If you thought last winter was bad just wait until this summer in Eureka...
Ours are doing just fine.
We’re getting a nice bunch of tomatoes coming along on our Topsy Turvy planter, but the big ones seem to be taking their time starting to ripen.
That’s being unkind to some of the GW scientists.... many are just easily misguided.
LOL!!!
Snowed here three of the last five days and the high is 55. Plants are all confused.
The plants aren’t confused...The author is.
If you don’t have the sunlight for the chlorophyll to process then they don’t grow.
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