The numerous spring showers that have extended into the summer mean midstate fruit and vegetables growers didn’t have to irrigate, and it caused some produce such as peaches to grow plump and juicy.
On the other hand, the wet conditions also mean some produce didn’t get planted or rotted before it fully ripened.
“The rain makes (the peaches) larger, but they are usually not as sweet as when we have a lot of hot sunshine,” said Harris Sledge, owner of Sledge Farms Peach House in Byron.
Sledge grows peaches on about 150 acres in Peach County.
He is among 92 fruit and vegetable growers in Georgia who are members of the Certified Farm Market program created by the Georgia Farm Bureau. The program features a wide variety of products, from apple orchards in the mountains to watermelons in the southern part of the state.
Sledge usually sells a number of vegetables along with peaches at his farm market, but this year he cut back mostly due to personal reasons.
Stephen Feitshans, co-owner of Garden Fresh LLC near Perry, which also is a Certified Farm Market, said the rain caused crops to be late this year.
via Georgia farm markets offer fresh produce, on-farm experience | Business | Macon.com.
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