After a challenging growing season in 2020, local farms are returning to normal levels of success with this year’s weather to produce much-anticipated sweet corn.
Greg Forejt Jr. of Windy Heights Farm Market in East Huntingdon said last season was too dry, resulting in the loss of about half of the farm’s crops.
This year, however, he had sweet corn ready to sell starting June 26, a week or two earlier than usual.
Both Mary Sedlar and
Sedlar said she believes Windy Heights has “the best corn anywhere.”
“We’ve had corn at many places and this is the absolute best corn that you (can) get,” the Ruffs Dale resident said. “Anytime of year 一 beginning of summer, end of summer 一 it’s always great.”
Since Sedlar lives just up the street from the market, she’s been buying its sweet corn for years.
Even though the spring was a bit dry, Forejt said there was enough rain to maintain crop growth. He added that covering his crops in May prevented them from succumbing to the mild frost.
“If you’re a produce guy, this is going to be a really good year for you as long as we keep getting the rain,” Forejt said.
Tim Hileman, owner of Kistaco Farm Market in Apollo, said his sweet corn will not be ready until late July because he got a late start planting and faced fluctuating growing temperatures.
Hileman said his sweet corn is usually ready later in the summer compared to other farms because he focuses on apples.
This season’s weather, however, was too hot at the beginning of April and too cold from the end of the month into early May, which caused Hileman to delay sweet corn planting by two or three weeks.
Although the weather is “very localized” and fluctuates each year, Hileman said this season’s conditions were no worse than in the past.
Kistaco Farm is currently selling kale, lettuce, sugar snap peas and blueberries. Hileman said he anticipates cucumbers and apples by late June, but peaches will not be ready until mid- to late July.
“It’s been OK. We always fight with the weather,” he said.
Neil Palmer, co-owner and manager of Palmer’s Farm in Unity, said his crops survived the spring because the weather was not too hot and the plants were still relatively young, meaning they did not require much water. He added the dry conditions were beneficial, creating more ideal planting days.
Palmer expects his sweet corn to be ready shortly after July 4, and other crops — such as cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini — by mid-July.
He said the farm always aims to have sweet corn by July 4, but it does not happen often. The farm did not have sweet corn until Aug. 1 last season.
Palmer said the farm’s opening date depends on when the sweet corn is ready, but he anticipates a “timely harvest and a full season.”
“Last season was so challenging,” Palmer said. “It’s just going to be so sweet to have a normal season and a full season of harvesting.”
Local farmers saw cold temperatures and even the “latest snows … in quite a while” last year, according to David Shallenberger, a meteorologist at Pittsburgh’s National Weather Service.
“We did kind of jump back to normal at least temperature wise,” Shallenberger said of this year’s growing season. “While we had a cold May this year, (it) wasn’t as bad as last year 一 not as bad from what I’ve seen.”
Shallenberger conceded, though, that farmers did experience a “dry spring” this year and were looking at forecasts a “little bit warmer than usual.”
According to current maps, Shallenberger said there is a 30% chance temperatures will be slightly above normal heading into Fourth of July weekend.
In May, the area’s highest temperature was 87 degrees, which was one degree above normal, and the lowest recorded temperature was about 32 degrees, which was three below normal, Shallenberger said.
Glen Bupp, commercial horticulture educator for Penn State Extension, said late frosts last year caused farmers who live slightly north to see some loss in their sweet corn fields.
“Anything that can come in after early planting can cause problems,” Bupp said.
Bupp said farmers who have sweet corn ready by July 4 are the ones who have to “navigate the variable climate systems that come through Southwestern Pennsylvania.”
Brandon Christner of Christner Farms in Upper Tyrone, Fayette County, said he expects sweet corn to be ready by July 4 and crops such as peppers, green beans and onions by mid-July. The farm is already offering cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce and cauliflower.
Christner said the farm’s crops usually are ready by July 4, but some are delayed as a result of the May frost. He explained sweet corn is on track because they covered it, but it was not worth the time to cover the other crops.
According to Christner, this growing season has been typical aside from the frost and cool, wet weather in May. He added the 40 degree nights he saw in June were “unheard of” for the time of year.
Hil Schramm, co-owner of Schramm Farms & Orchards in Penn Township, said the cold nights set some of the farm’s crops back by a week.
He explained the temperature has to stay above 56 degrees in order for crops to maintain growth. This season’s fluctuating temperatures have delayed the growth of sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon and cantaloupe.
Schramm said he estimates sweet corn will be ready by July 10 and green beans by the first week of July. The farm is actively picking zucchini, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.
“It’s really hot one week and really cold the next,” Schramm said. “Once you lose those days, they don’t come back just because it’s 90 degrees.”
Christner Farms customers can expect “business as usual” this season, but Christner said the farm has been challenged by “skyrocketing” fertilizer prices. He said he suspects this is a result of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy.
“We’re doing our best to hold our prices,” Christner said.
Windy Heights Farm Market was also impacted by the pandemic, particularly in its variety of produce.
Forejt said the farm ramped up its production level this season because of the increase in business it received in 2020.
The farm increased its variety of crops and put up high tunnels — which serve as heatless greenhouses — to grow more fruits and vegetables. Forejt also had air conditioning and heating systems installed so the market can be open year round.
“There’s more interest in locally-grown food than there ever was,” he said.
Soergel Orchards, a family farm in Franklin Park, was initially affected by the pandemic.
“Last year, it was really scary because we really didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Adam Voll, farm manager. “(But it) turned out to be a really good year.”
Voll, of Renfrew, said this year is more of a “normal” year, and he’s “pretty optimistic” because more people will return to the farm regularly.
“As a whole, it’s kind of becoming an average year 一 things are kind of on pace with what we’d expect them to be,” Voll said. “Everything should be back on track.”
Temperature fluctuations sometimes make it hard to “mitigate the heat,” Voll said. Similar to Forejt, Voll said the farm sometimes covers early corn with plastic or cotton cloth. However, plastic risks burning the crops if temperatures get too hot.
Voll said if everything goes well, sweet corn will begin to be picked before July 4 and will continue to be picked fresh almost every day through October.
He said he’s hoping to get “a little more rain soon,” but overall, crops seem to be “high quality.”
“Typically, June is a pretty wet month for the Pittsburgh area and southwest (Pennsylvania),” Shallenberger said.
As of June 24, the area saw 3.01 inches compared to the normal 3.11 up to that date, which is “pretty close” to normal, Shallenberger said.
Voll said the farm has had “just enough rain” this year. Too much can cause some disease or increase farming difficulty, he said.
In addition to sweet corn, Voll said strawberries, blueberries, apples and tomatoes are all going well.
“Nothing’s guaranteed when it comes to the weather,” Voll said. “(It) can change drastically.”
Quincey Reese is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Quincey at 724-757-4910, qreese@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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