[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Top Image” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BerryFarmW6.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Top Image caption” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
Due to fluctuating temperatures, some blueberry bushes in South Carolina have bloomed early.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BerryFarmW4.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
With its April picking season just weeks away, Berry Hill Farm in Lexington hopes its crop will survive for people to pick their own berries.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/BerryFarmGraphic.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
By Ryan Lawson and Trevor Beck<\/p>\n
With the calendar officially turning to spring, farmers are getting ready to harvest their crops in the coming weeks. Despite recent freezing temperatures early in the morning, berry farmers are holding out hope their crop will survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith early blossoms, anybody, peach growers, strawberry growers, blueberry growers are all kind of holding their breath and waiting to see what happens,\u201d Bill Evan, the owner of Berry Hill farms in Lexington, said.<\/p>\n
Evans, who has run\u00a0Berry Hill farm for 35 years, believes the strange\u00a0winter weather has left the berry blossoms vulnerable to late freezes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been unusual,” Evans said.\u00a0\u201cIt was cold early on, but then came February and we had the warmest February on record. So that caused all of these buds to start developing and turning into blossoms early. That makes them susceptible to all these late sways in temperature with frost and freezes.”<\/p>\n
While this season has been unusual on a larger scale, it has been similar to last season. That has helped better prepare farmers for potential late freezes.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, mid-March totally slammed us,” Evans said.\u00a0\u201cWe had an advective frost-freeze\u00a0with a lot of wind and a lot of cold and that just decimated the plants. We picked only one day last season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evans was worried that the native bees, which play a critical role in pollination of the crop, would be reluctant to return after the scarce crop last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy native bees are here to pollinate and that [pollination] is very important in any fruit growing,” Evans said. “The blueberry blossom is a conical–<\/strong>shaped blossom, so honey bees cannot pollinate it. We need the native bees to pollinate. So far they have already been out here.\u201d<\/p>\n One way to combat the freezing temperatures and save the blooms is an overhead sprinkler system than Evans uses on his crop.<\/p>\n \u201cI have an overhead sprinkler system and the unique thing about that is as you put on water, as it freezes, it releases heat right on the surface of the blossom,” Evans said.\u00a0\u201cI know that sounds crazy but you are able to hold the surface temperature of the blossom right at freezing so that it survives.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans has used the system about seven times this season and it has helped sustain his crop so far with picking season coming up in April.<\/p>\n \u201cSo far,<\/strong> so good,” Evans said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not over with yet. I got hit one year on April 22, in the ‘<\/strong>80s, that totally destroyed everything so it ain’t over until it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n This March, the area has experienced temperatures at or below freezing seven times, the same as last season. The current forecast for the rest of the month sees temperatures dip into the thirties but for now, staying above freezing.<\/p>\n \u201cStay tuned!\u201d Evans said. \u201cWe sure would like to have a good season.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Lexington berry farmer hopes freezing temperatures stay away as he prepares for April picking season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":6263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67,39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6112"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6467,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112\/revisions\/6467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}