Prince George vegetables are drowning. Some parts of the region are enjoying bumper food production, while others are watching their entire year's livelihood gag on water and cold air.
"It is just a disaster for us. We've never had a problem like this before. With drought, on a vegetable farm, you can always do something to irrigate. With this, we will lose 70 per cent of our sales for sure and it could get worse," said Robert Bucher, proprietor of P&B Organics, with 18 acres in production, growing 65 varieties of veggies and herbs on Salmon Valley Road.
Not a single variety is thriving with the delayed spring, copious rain and unseasonably cool temperatures. Inside the greenhouses, the air is so moist and cold the plants are rotting on feeble stems. Outside in the fields, the carrots and peas and beans succumbed to muddy lakes.
Bucher said if there was a burst of heat now, perhaps some of the cauliflower and broccoli would be OK but already the strawberries, peas and beans were a total write-off. Half the farm's greens are lost, 80 per cent of the cucumbers including the pickling cucumbers were ruined, there were 80 per cent losses for onions and garlic, the whole operation is in desperate straights, he said.
Meanwhile, on a sandy south-facing Fraser River terrace south of the city, things could hardly be different. Sweder Berries U-Pick and Northern Farm Products are watching a thick crop of produce come to fruition. Proprietor Karen Kellett said the berries were a touch behind in development, and the berries that were ripening now might have a slightly muted flavour due to extra moisture, but there was little problem at their location.
"Our veggies are on track, they seem to like it. The pumpkins have flowered, we're having zucchini for supper tonight," Kellett said.
"I have three cars in my yard right now. People are picking. The saskatoons are great, and 15 pounds of raspberries went down the driveway already today, so they have started. The blueberries aren't ready yet but the bushes are just loaded. If those three little suns on the weather website come through for next week, it is really going to help."
Bucher isn't even looking at forecasts anymore. For him, the only salvation is government assistance, so he is watching for Ministry of Agriculture help.
"If the government doesn't come through for us this year, we will have to close down," Bucher said. "It is heartbreaking. I and my wife have been farmers all our lives. It is our passion. We have had to lay off some workers because we can't afford to have them anymore. We need a response from the ministry. You can't survive this."
