It’s been a hot, dry summer across Central New York and local farmers have certainly felt the impact. Less water means smaller yields and a lot more work, especially for the farmers that assemble at the market on Tuesdays in downtown Clinton Square.
Bill Ingersoll owns and operates Ingersoll Farms in Fulton, and has noticed a bit of yield loss. But he says nothing too drastic due to the drought.
"We are slow on our winter squashes that would normally be starting to come out now that I wasn't able to get sufficient water source to," Ingersoll said. "Early on, we were slow on sweet corn just for the fact I couldn't keep our home stand and this place supplied with sweet corn due to the drought."
In some cases, a lack of water can give fruits a much sweeter taste. Farmer OlenYoungman of Youngman Orchards in Williamson says his fruit crops were smaller, but they yielded much sweeter results.
" Our largest crop is apples," Youngman said. "We actually have a large apple crop, besides being a touch smaller this year. Trees are little different than vegetable crops because they are a little more hearty due to their deep-rooted system, so they can tolerate the drought better than vegetables can. It should be an excellent eating crop this year."
This season hasn’t slowed down this market’s customer base. Leslie Keller hasn’t noticed any sparse findings among her favorite market choices, and she enjoys the downtown convenience.
"The cucumbers that are a little later coming out, but that is OK," Keller said. "They had a great selection. I have been very happy with it. I didn't have to wait to go Thursday or Saturday and I can go home and do what I want today."
The downtown farmer’s market runs every Tuesday until October 11th.
