Highs and lows for farmers

Superb for strawberries, poor for potatoes and fluctuating for flowers – the balmy weather conditions at the start of summer are reaping random success for growers and gardeners alike.

An early heatwave followed by torrential rain has seen flora, fruit and vegetables react in a completely different way to traditional summers.

At Essington Fruit Farm near Wolverhampton, strawberry crops appeared earlier than usual due to premature heatwaves but the current downpours are putting people off picking them.

Manager Richard Simkin said: “The crops came two or three weeks early this year but then the heavy rain has meant the public are not keen to come out and pick their own.

“It is almost a carbon copy of 1982 when there was blazing sunshine for four or five days at the start of the strawberry season, followed by two or three weeks of solid rain.”

Mr Simkin said the fruit is actually benefiting from the rain which is swelling it to larger than normal size. 

Allotment users in Tipton said the recent heavy downpours would impact on the price of vegetables later in the year.

John Harrison, who grows a number of vegetables at the Robert Road allotments, said: “Potatoes are dying. After the rain this month I had six inches of standing water on my plot at one point. I’ve seen sprouts die in front of my own eyes.”

Other allotment users said green beans had not climbed as high as they would have expected. Sid Parker, who also has a plot at the Robert Road Allotments, warned: “It will affect vegetable prices later this year.”

Many gardeners from across the region have already harvested their potato crops for fear of the ground becoming water-logged.

The unseasonal weather has also led to some plants dying off early as they cannot adapt to the conditions.

Howard Drury, gardening adviser at Ashwood Nurseries, in Kingswinford, said plants like wisteria and laburnum were struggling due to the hot weather followed by torrential downpours.

Many cannot develop strong enough root systems like more hardy trees and shrubs, he said.

On the positive side, tomatoes are already sprouting and there are predictions of bumper crops of beans due to the deluge of rain.