Mild winters raise concerns for Delaware peach farmers

Mild winters can make Delaware peach farmers nervous. Warmer days – especially those in the 70s – can entice peach trees to produce blossoms when there is still danger of a killing frost. If a peach tree’s blossoms freeze, they die off, and with them go that year’s peaches. Not a comforting thought when a whole year’s work – and a major part of a farm’s income – can be ruined by a late-winter frost.

On much of the Delmarva Peninsula, April 15 has traditionally been considered the first frost-free date for the new growing season. Because of the moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean, that date is typically earlier the closer the land is to the coast. It’s the same reason why our first freeze of the year isn’t typically expected along the coast before Nov. 1 when the rest of the peninsula, inland, uses Oct. 15 as a conservative date for that first freeze. Climate change, no doubt, is pushing those dates earlier and later.

The official start of spring is only a few weeks away, but peach farmers are still keeping their fingers crossed. They’re also thinking about how much it will cost to bring in fans to discourage frosts in their trees, or maybe a helicopter or two to fan their orchards from above when the frost threat is worst.

Because of farmers markets and a growing demand for fresh fruits and produce from the metropolitan markets surrounding Delmarva, peach orchards are beginning to regain the potent economic stature they enjoyed in Delaware in the early to mid-20th century. Now, one of the highlights of the summer season at the markets is when the first peaches come on from such farms as Bennett’s, near Roxana, or Fifer’s, near Camden-Wyoming. Long lines form to buy fresh, juicy peaches from when the first full peach baskets grace the tables until the harvest is complete toward the summer’s end – before the apples come on.

Historic Lewes Farmers Market Vice President Nancy Staisey attended a Lewes-Rehoboth Rotary Club meeting a couple of months ago. The club presented a donation check to Staisey to assist the organization. She told a story from last summer – a story that has resonated from groups of volunteers and farmers who were there that day, to the halls of the U.S. Congress.

Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester retold the story during congressional debates about the Farm Bill when reductions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP were being discussed. That program provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move toward self-sufficiency. In a nation trying to become healthier to ward off the rising costs of medical care, Rochester didn’t see much sense in reducing a program that helps people eat healthier foods – like fresh peaches – that are often more expensive than processed and less-healthy foods.

Staisey told Rotarians that their donation – and others like it – enable the farmers market to offer a dollar-for-dollar match to customers with SNAP benefits so they can afford even more healthier food. Because of programs like that, the Historic Lewes Farmers Market’s annual SNAP sales represent a quarter of all the SNAP sales at farmers markets throughout the state.

But that’s not the best part. Staisey said such donations also allow the market to give $5 worth of tokens – for free – to children who come with adults using a SNAP card. The kids can use their tokens to buy any eligible foods at the market.

“One little boy’s eyes widened when he was handed his free tokens,” said Staisey. “He was 6 or so. He asked if he could use his tokens to buy a peach. ‘You can buy a whole box of peaches with those tokens,’ he was told. Then he really smiled,” she said. “‘That’s great!’ was his response. ‘I always wanted to know what a peach tastes like.’”

Staisey said stories like those keep farmers market volunteers motivated and are what community contributions make possible.

Now, say a prayer and do a dance to keep a late frost from killing our peaches this year.