Welcome to the new normal.
That’s the message this year is sending to Maine farmers and gardeners who are contending with bizarre weather patterns and having their old assumptions about how to grow vegetables and fruits challenged, according to an agriculture expert from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
“This is definitely a different kind of growing season,” Tori Jackson, an associate professor of agriculture and natural resources, said Tuesday. “It does follow a pattern we’re seeing a lot more frequently, which is variation in climate. This is going to be our new normal. Learning how to roll with the weather at different times of year is what we’re spending a lot of time on at [the University of Maine Cooperative Extension].”
So far this year, several tricky conditions have included the following:
— March weather was so warm that fruit trees started to bud out, only to be followed by a sub-zero cold snap in early April that killed a lot of the buds.
— A dry spell in May, in which nearly 2 inches less rain than usual fell in Bangor, was so extreme it caused some farmers and gardeners to lose seeds, which withered in the ground instead of germinating.
— Colder than usual temperatures in the first half of June caused many farmers and gardeners to use crop protection, such as row covers, low tunnels and high tunnels to help crops grow.
“The dry spell, particularly, and the unseasonably cool weather we’re having now — this is not what you think of when you think of mid-June,” Jackson said.
Still, that’s what we have, so she has several ideas for how to cope with the conditions. Drip irrigation in particular is one of the most important things a vegetable or fruit producer can have, Jackson said, and overhead irrigation systems may have helped to save some of the state’s strawberries from being damaged by frost.
“Overhead irrigation is great for frost injury prevention,” Jackson said. “The damage can be mitigated with overhead irrigation. As water freezes, heat is released as ice crystals form, and the heat can protect the flower buds on a very cold evening. That was definitely happening in April and May.”
In addition to irrigation, protecting delicate seedlings with row covers and tunnels is becoming more critical, especially for farmers who depend on having a successful growing season.
“It used to be that it was worth it for growers to not invest in [protection],” she said. “Over the past three years I would say those that had those things available to them have done better. Whether it is too cold, too dry, too hot or too windy, it can cause problems.”
The dry weather can have an upside, Jackson said. There should be fewer diseases to contend with, particularly on potatoes and tomatoes.
“Early blight and late blight are a big problem when we’ve got a lot of rain splashing those spores around,” she said. “If we don’t have the rain, we should see fewer instances of those fungal diseases.”