CHESTERLAND, Ohio — It may be spring, but parts of the nation and Northeast Ohio continue to face widespread freeze warnings, which are threatening the plants and crops many families and local businesses depend on.
At Patterson Farms in Chesterland, Ohio, Farm Production Manager David Patterson, says they're doing everything they can to save their main crop of apples.
“This is our number one enemy in the spring is the cold weather and everyone's done about as much as they can at this point. Now, you just had to kind of wait and see,” he said.
Among the farm’s 116 acres, fruit plants stretch as far as the eye can see. Patterson says strawberries and peaches are currently all protected from potential blankets of frost.
“We use water, irrigation and we'll sprinkle the strawberries in the peaches starting at about 34 degrees. And we'll sprinkle them all night and we'll build up a layer of ice around them. And then that ice protects them from the frost. Then, we sprinkle them until that ice melts off the next morning,” Patterson said. “As we keep the ice moving and keep the ice freezing, it's an exothermic process. So, it actually generates heat and will actually protect that flower down to about 28 degrees.”
However, just last week, Patterson says they spotted damage from overnight temps dropping below 30 degrees. While early blossoms due to a warmer-than-usual February provided some protection, Patterson says they’re not taking any chances battling mother nature.
“We're watching the next four nights,” he said. “Temperatures that we're looking at right now all seem to have a little bit of moisture with them and that means clouds and clouds will help protect us a lot. So, unless we get some really clear skies Thursday morning, the one that we're watching the most with the most clear skies. I think we can get down to about 28 degrees.”
