Here at South Jersey Local we always try to keep a positive outlook and write about stories that celebrate life in South Jersey as a counter to the negative and divisive content you often find online these days.
But as we prepared to write the June edition – our annual FARM ISSUE – that ethos was certainly put to the test.
The news we were hearing starting in late April and continuing all through May did not sound good when it came to the prospects for the coming agricultural season in our region, and really, for much of the country.
First we learned of Rowand’s Farm in Glassboro, a place we’ve visited for years, taking our kids to pick cherries and strawberries since they were small. According to their Facebook page, there would be no season for them this year. Their entire cherry crop was wiped out – a fate that seemed particularly cruel since they lost their entire strawberry growing operation to disease and weather conditions the year before.
Next it was Heilig Orchards in Mullica Hill, owned by a family I grew up with, growing peaches I grew up on. Now, they were being featured in a TV news report – their crops too – all gone.
Next we heard more devastating news from a family that so generously supported us last year as an advertiser – Holtzhauser Farms – also in Mullica Hill, also a complete loss of their peaches for the season.
Things look bleak all over.
Stone fruit crops like cherries, peaches, plums and nectarines were hit the hardest, with many farmers around the area reporting a total loss. Even outcomes for later crops, like apples, pears, grapes, and possibly even blueberries could be disrupted as well.
The culprit was weather.
An earlier than usual warm spell kick-started development of fruit crop blossoms ahead of schedule, followed soon after by a three-day stretch of unseasonably frigid temperatures – a frost in late April. The blooms and developing fruit were frozen and they withered on the vine and died on the branch.
Farming can be a fickle business, with the difference between a successful season and a total bust coming down to things completely out of the farmer’s control, like an ill-timed cold snap, but many long-time farmers reported never seeing anything as bad as this in their lifetimes.
There wasn’t much there to stay positive about for sure.
Farms and their products are such an integral part of life in South Jersey, that a loss like this is truly a blow to our collective psyche, our very identity, but obviously our thoughts, first and foremost, are with the farms and their workers, and anyone whose living may be disrupted by this shock.
One thing we can say is that we’re hopeful the South Jersey community will band together as they have during other times of struggle.
You’ll see on the next page some relief efforts that are underway and some ways you can help if you’re able and so inclined.
But mainly the best thing any of us can do is to make an effort to shop local whenever we can and continue to support our South Jersey farms.
No farms, no food.
–Joe D’Aquila
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