March 27, 2008: Good News! Our peaches and strawberries survived the cold weather earlier this week. Everyone was concerned that this year might be a repeat of last year and we would lose all of our peaches for the summer. However, temperatures dipped to the mid 20s but did not stay that low for long. Also, our peaches were not as far along in maturity as they were last year during the 2007 Easter freeze. The strawberries were saved by running the overhead irrigation on them and allowing a coating of ice to form on the plants. By doing this, the plant temperature was kept around 32 degrees and the strawberries were not harmed. They will ripen in about 3 weeks, depending on the weather.

On the farm, we are already planting tomatoes. These might be killed if the weather turns cold again but we have high hopes of these plants surviving and producing early tomatoes. We have also planted squash plants. We are waiting for the ground to warm up a little more before we begin planting our vegetables by seed.

March 15, 2008: We have finished pruning our peach trees and fertilizing them for the year. They are beginning to bud and should be in full bloom by next week. We are praying that the weather stays warmer this year and that the freeze does not kill the young peaches. We also planted some sweet corn this week. It is early, but corn is usually not hurt by cold nights as long as the days are warm. We have also planted some creamer potatoes. In about two weeks we will begin planting the majority of our crops. Our strawberry plants are coming along nicely.

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