Local farmers are trying to stay upbeat, despite cold wet weather that has taken a toll on their crops. “People keep asking me when there is going to be corn, and I tell them after two weeks of sunshine,” Robert (Jigger) Clark of Clark’s Farm in Jefferson said.
Clark said his cold weather crops have been doing well, including his peas, broccoli and beet greens. “The lettuce is thriving. We’re selling a lot of beet greens. I have the cold weather to thank for that. We have a lot of positives. I’m pretty upbeat. I am losing my shirt on some stuff and doing well on others. It’s not all bad. When you farm you take that risk.”
Water is receding at Clark’s farm but he estimates he has already lost 40 percent of his strawberry crop and 50 percent of his bean crop. “I don’t like to complain,” he said. “Our strawberries have been OK. They are smaller but are good and firm…The squash and pumpkin have been a struggle because of slugs. We had to buy a hand spreader for slug pellets.”
The cucumbers are ripening, but Clark said he is getting only about 25 percent of what he normally gets this time of year. “We’re doing a lot of hand work, because we can not get on the fields,” he said. “The corn, tomatoes and cucumbers are coming slow, but the potato crop is looking good. Everything would be doing better if we could get another day or two with no rain.”
“I’ve got to thank the public, they have been real supportive. My hats are off to them,” Clark said.
The story is about the same at Spear’s Farm in Nobleboro. “It’s very frustrating,” Bob Spear said. The weather “is holding things back more than anything. It’s very slow with no heat and too much moisture. Part of the struggle is the inability to “get back on the ground” to replant crops. “We are fighting cut worms and slugs. Those are some of the obstacles we are facing.
“The peas are waiting to ripen. Because they are a heavy vine crop they are lying on the ground and rotting. They are a big disappointment. We’re taking a big loss on them. We replanted the pumpkins and we’re still waiting to see if they make it or not. Other things are just coming slow.”
On a positive note, Spear’s Farm has lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, beet greens, pickling cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, radishes, lots of herbs and a few peas. “Those things are coming out of the garden good,” Spear said. “We should have corn soon, I expect within a week or so. It will be three or four days later than last year. Here in Maine we have such a short window for the summer season. With the summer people gone, it’s hard to make up on the fall end.”
The Spear’s also have a dairy farm and haying is a big part of their summer season. “Haying is non-existent. The first week in June we got some in the silo. We have not been able to put up any dry hay; maybe by the end of the week,” Spear said.
The Spear’s are hoping to be able to cut a second and third crop. “The quality of hay will not be as good, but there is nothing we can do about that. That’s the way it is,” Spear added.
“We are trying to be optimistic, but after two or three weeks it’s hard to stay there. We’re still trying to be optimistic, but it’s a challenge,” Spear said.
