Deep Freezes Last Winter and Spring Cost Some Fruit Farmers in Southern Maine Part of Their Harvests

By Carol Bousquet

Extreme temperature drops last winter and spring cost some fruit farmers in southern Maine part of their harvests.

In May a late spring freeze ruined Ellen McDougal's Honeycrisp and Evercrisp varieties due to their early bloom time.

"We were at full bloom. The 17th of May everything was in full bloom, pink and white. The next morning we went out and they were brown, all the blossoms were brown. Some varieties bloom earlier and those are the ones that were affected," McDougal said.

McDougal says the subzero temperatures Maine experienced in February caused other fruits to suffer as well.

"We lost all the peaches in February, the temperature went down to minus 15, minus 16 degrees, so we lost all of the stone fruit. It was a double whammy," she said.