A cautionary fruit prognosis for the season

Lakeside Farmers Market vendors – farmers, orchardists, brewers, distillers, bakers, crafters, and others – are a source of information about how they can work with mother nature and derive exquisite food products that have nourished civilizations for decades.

They are also rife with stories about failures that have crippled their output despite having hopeful intentions.

“The 2023 season began with a drought left over from last year, and any tree that was trying to find any moisture in the ground, well, there was no moisture in it,” Locust Grove Orchard’s Jim Kent said. “Then, a relatively mild winter left the trees dormant, but not super-dormant, until one day that was around 5 [below zero] turned the whole Hudson Valley trees into crispy critters, losing 90% of all their potential stone fruit.” Stone fruit includes cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots.

Despite that start, Kent had some that survived that are delicious while other farms got completely wiped out.

He added that later this spring as the trees began to blossom, a frost followed by a rainy period prevented many trees from “getting settled.”

The season has been challenging for many orchard owners. There are a few cherries and peaches, but don’t expect a large supply of stone fruit from farms in the Hudson Valley. Many of the fruit available now – including raspberries, currants, and cherries – are really tasty because the rain has been minimal and the flavors are so concentrated. Kent also had several varieties of apples and some Bosc pears from his controlled environment storage produced wonderful flavors and were exceptional in quality.

Produce has not been as hard hit as fruit trees, however, and the early-ripeners, like lettuce, onions, garlic, zucchini, eggplant, and kale, are full of flavor and are of great quality. And poultry farmers, like Campanelli, offered large selections of hormone-free and free-ranged chicken, ducks, and turkeys, all nourished by organic feed and grains, allowed to mature gradually in an open environment, producing some of the finest entrées for area restaurants and discerning chefs, like Shannon’s Eyes on the Pies, one of the new market vendors.

Farmers markets are great places to learn about how farmers are coping with a changing weather pattern and adjustments in temperature that can flummox even the most sophisticated radar technology.

For more information about local farms, area specialty vendors, and upcoming family-friendly events in the region, log onto https://rb.gy/g6l62.