Farms across central Virginia work through dry, hot weather
Aaron Goode: “We have to irrigate just about all of our crops when it’s dry and hot like this.”
CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT)—Strawberry season is underway at Chesterfield Berry Farm, where families brace the heat to pick their own fruit.
“We’re into the strawberries, fruits, and vegetables,” said Aaron Goode, owner of Chesterfield Berry Farm. “Just seeing the people come out and have a good time, you know, it’s more like an experience.”
Goode said they’re working through a busy time, especially with the dry and hot weather areas all across Central Virginia are experiencing.
“We’ve almost finished the strawberries, but the heat is not good for the strawberries,” he said. “I mean, they don’t need this much heat.”
The farm is keeping up with the heat with help from their drip irrigation systems.
“It makes for a stressful day or week or whatever because you don’t get any breaks, you’re pumping water,” said Goode. “We have to irrigate just about all of our crops when it’s dry and hot like this.”
At this point, Goode hopes they can catch a break from these conditions.
“We still got water in our ponds, the lakes, for the irrigation. We’re still okay right now, but if it keeps up, we’ll get low,” he said.
Mt. Olympus Farm in Ruther Glen also tells 12 On Your Side that even though this weather has an impact, it provides positive benefits for them.
“There is low to no disease pressure, we don’t lose picking time to wet conditions, and we can control the amount of water the plants are getting,” said Mary West, owner of Mt. Olympus Farm, in a statement. “We are fortunate to have access to surface water and use drip irrigation. We are watering from sunup to sundown to make sure everything gets covered.”
Despite the heatwave, Goode said they’re staying on track with their crops and plans in the coming months.
“We’re being cautious with how much water we use, and of course, we use a lot of drip irrigation, which uses a lot less water than the impact sprinklers,” he said. “We’re starting to plant pumpkins and everything. You know, we’ll have to water them too if it doesn’t rain, but you know, not any major impacts right now.”
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