GREEN: This year’s drought — as well as a night of devastating frost — have created some “growing pains” for some vendors at the Green Farmers Market.
The market is in the parking lot behind the Summa Health System facilities at 3838 Massillon Road and is open from 3 to 7 p.m. each Tuesday through the end of this month and then 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays from Sept. 4 through Oct. 9.
Growers from Wayne, Stark, Summit, Portage and Mahoning counties are selling everything from a wide variety of lettuce to sweet corn to squash to zucchini. One vendor even offers “slightly used golf balls” among his items.
Don May, who has 13 acres of produce growing at his May’s Produce farm in Randolph Township, chuckles whenever someone asks about the golf balls, which go for 25 cents each.
“The balls come from my nephew’s backyard in Suffield Township,” May said. “Before he mows, he goes through the lawn gathering golf balls that have come from the golf course next door.”
This year’s crop of golf balls has been reliable, but May said the drought has affected his crop of white, yellow and bicolor corn.
“Some of the stalks don’t have any ears at all and on some the kernels didn’t develop all the way to the end of the ear.”
A bright spot, May said, is an “abundance of pickles and cucumbers this year so evidently they like the drier temperatures.”
May brings his produce to Green and also has a stand on Canton Road in Springfield Township next to AutoZone on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. He’s at the Ravenna Farmers Market on Thursdays.
Dan Witmer, of Green, said his grandfather, Daniel Witmer just outside of Orrville, has him selling bicolor sweet corn from the back of a pickup truck at the Green Farmers Market because of the young man’s connection to the city.
“Here, I’m doing pretty good because I grew up in Green and my dad and mom work in the Green schools, so I see a lot of people I know and that really helps,” said the young vendor. His grandfather is 83 and still farming his 150-acre spread, which has 20 acres of bicolor sweet corn. The rest is in soybeans and field corn.
“It builds up a good reputation because my grandfather is really particular about the corn he sells me and he tries to produce the best corn he can because he is trying to keep customers returning.”
As for the drought, the younger Witmer said, “The drought really hurt us a lot this year. My grandpa told me this morning that he’d be happy if he just got his expenses paid back this year because the drought hurt him so much. Acres and acres of corn just went to waste this year.”
Bev Green, who promotes Brenckle Farms off Duquette Avenue outside Hartville, said the drought has made this “a tough season for us. We have been watering 15 hours a day to get the quality we like. Corn in the high ground is not the quality it is capable of. Some didn’t come up because of the drought. And cabbage heads won’t form because of the heat.”
The Brenckle muck farm spans 200 acres that Green’s brother, Thomas Brenckle, and nephew, Jon, own and rent. The family ships produce to several Giant Eagle stores in the area and also to Marc’s and Acme.
“Everything is showing a little stress on the crops … and us, too,” Green said, referring to the long hours of watering and the cost of labor and diesel and gasoline fuel needed to run the irrigation pumps.
Kody Lowden, of Mogadore, the nephew of Chris Saal, who operates the 250-acre Walnut Drive Gardens farm near Mogadore, said the drought affected his family’s crops “a little bit.”
“Everything was a little slower and everything wasn’t growing as big and fast. We actually have an irrigation system that we have with our ponds and underground pipe that we hook up every year. What we need to water, we do. We always love rain because our ponds and stuff run low.
“We lost a little bit of corn because we don’t usually irrigate that. The corn was small, but we actually irrigated it this year and that’s why we have gotten a little bigger.”
Dave Snyder, of Snyder’s Orchard in Mahoning County’s Smith Township, said weather has affected his apple and peach crop, “but the other stuff was OK.”
He estimated that a frost after the warm March froze buds on apple trees, meaning his apple crop will only be about 40 percent of usual yields while the peach crop will be off about 50 percent.
Snyder has about 25 of his 165 acres in peaches and apples and 20 acres in produce.
“We don’t irrigate the apples but we do everything else. Our ponds were worrying us because we were using so much water, but about a week ago we got a lot of rain and it fills up pretty quick.”