Weather Watching

Everyone in British Columbia seems to be watching the weather reports pretty closely these days. If you were planning a summer camping vacation or just wanted a day on the beach, the good days have been few and far apart so far. On the other hand, if you don't enjoy hot weather, it has been OK. Looking on the bright side, I do always sleep better when it is cooler outside.

Farmers and other people involved in organic food can quickly become almost obsessed with weather. More or less rain than usual, more or less sunshine than usual, higher or lower temperatures than usual can all result in changes to when produce is available, as well as its quantity, price, and quality.

The recent rainstorms may impact the BC and Washington cherries, for example, though we don't know how much. Hopefully, we will still have a good cherry season. BC blueberries are also delayed indefinitely because of the chilly weather. In addition, local flooding is costing farmers some of their crop, as every day they are losing a few more rows as the Fraser covers more and more land. Dozens of farmers in the Fraser Valley have been affected, with some evacuation orders last week.

Elsewhere, cooler than average weather in California means less broccoli and citrus, so the prices on those will go up, and smaller cauliflower.

The apple problem we wrote about a couple of weeks ago continues to get worse, with a lot of fruit being rejected for quality problems. We are anticipating not having any apples at all in July and maybe not for most of August either, due to the anticipated price increases and quality problems. Hopefully the local apple season will be good for the autumn!

There is some good news. Washington's blueberry season is looking good, so hopefully we can get our hands on some of those while we wait for BC's berries. Grapes are also really good this year, due to very hot weather in Mexico. Pears and nectarines and other stonefruit are also looking good, so maybe we can also keep the doctor away with a peach a day.