Drought In Southeast New Hampshire, But Farmers Hopeful As Strawberry Season Begins

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH

Above, strawberries are ripening in the sun at Moulton Farm in Meredith. Paula Tracy photo

NEW LONDON, NH — As the drought in the southern half of the state continues, farmers are taking stock and hopeful for good crops this year, though hydrologists are concerned that it is going to take a long time for the groundwater situation to turn around, particularly in the coastal and southern portions of the state where house wells and farm stands are abundant.

Strawberries are up first.

Bruce Putnam at Spring Ledge Farm in New London, said he is preparing for a pick your own strawberry season but said last year's drought "definitely affected the establishment of the new strawberries and the fruit set of this year's crop. While they are irrigated, it was challenging to keep enough water on them during the extended drought. That being said, there is still a nice crop of berries out there to be had," he said Monday. PYO Strawberries will likely open sometime next week, he said, though they are picking for the farmstand now.

Cameron Barker, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said right now, the early June index for New Hampshire shows a severe drought persists in southeast New Hampshire, an area that includes Manchester toward the Seacoast. It is a moderate drought, in the western part of the state, including Keene and Lebanon and there is no problem with drought to the north.

Sarah Jamison, service hydrologist for the National Weather Service, said Tuesday that "we still have a ways to go," and that the last month and a half has seen precipitation above normal, which is perfect timing for farmers, but noting that the agricultural area of the state is still looking at ground water problems and it may take more than a summer to recover.

"We've gotten into a wet pattern. If we can maintain that, and that looks favorable we are making progress," she said. The state needs an inch of rain a week just to maintain drought levels but more to gain on it.

Some areas of the state have plenty of both surface water and groundwater, she noted, talking about last week's rainstorm in Madison and noted that in May, it received almost 10 inches of rain, nearly double the normal amount of water.

"You can have flooding and drought simultaneously," she noted.

While to some it seems like the drought is over with many weekend rain storms and the green leaving out of the trees, Jamison said once trees leaf out, a lot more water is needed.

"We came out of the winter not much improved from the situation last fall," she said. Despite abundant snowfall, there was little rain or thaws.

Farm stands across the state are beginning to fill up with little pint and quart boxes of the only fruit that wears its seeds on the outside.

They are an important and lucrative crop for the state's agriculture industry which also prizes its corn crop as a big money maker.

Some farms offer pick your own options while others prefer to have their staff hit the fields in the early morning to have freshly harvested berries on the counters in the afternoon from mid-June till the first week or two of July.

At Moulton Farm in Meredith, the first of the fresh picked strawberries were available Monday while much of the crop remains to ripen in the early summer sun over the next few weeks.

At Longview Farm in Plymouth, the season has not yet arrived though it could come later this week. Farm workers said Monday that May was a pretty cold month this year, slightly delaying their harvest.

At Butternut Farm in Farmington, where they have two and a half acres of strawberries under cultivation "we see a big crop coming and expect good picking conditions to last all day when the patches are open," the website reads.

At Apple Hill Farm in Concord, they offer both pick your own options and boxes for sale at the farmstand as of this week.

"Last night's rain will turn out to be very beneficial for all our crops. The strawberries are growing sweeter and juicier by the minute," the website reads noting that pick your own will start at 89 Hoyt Road from 8:30 to noon this week and ready picked options will be available at the farm stand at 580 Mountain Road from 8:30 to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday in June.

Beans and Greens Farm in Gilford is planning a Strawberry Festival June 27 and 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Some other places to find strawberries in the state are Brookdale Farm and Lull Farm in Hollis, Edgewater Farm in Plainfield, Applecrest Farm in Hampton Farms and Springledge Farm in New London to name a few, with a pick your own location near Pleasant Lake.

Strawberries are rich in Vitamin C, have only 55 calories per cup and are bursting with fiber and potassium. They are a member of the rose family and the most common variety are the June bearing types.

California and Florida represent 91 percent of the domestic strawberry crop but they have an extended season there because of the weather. In New Hampshire, the season lasts for only about five weeks.

For a New Hampshire Farmstand directory which list not just strawberries but other crops, visit https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/farms-businesses/agricultural-development/find-nh-agriculture/nh-farmstand-directory

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.