Crops and Markets

It looks like a vicious or perhaps a virtuous cycle if you are a grower.  In the face of slightly increased demand, all areas are raising prices on almost every vegetable commodity.  Extreme heat on the east coast, storms and heat in the North Country and dry conditions everywhere in the west have combined along with increased trucking costs to hike the price of almost all veg crops.  My own garden is a minor reflection of the trend.  Constant watering of seeded beds and transplants is keeping things going, but without some major rainfall in the near future, many varieties will not mature or the yield will be disappointing.  In the commercial lettuce fields tipburn is becoming ubiquitous, and growers are trying to irrigate, but low humidity and windy conditions can sometimes make this seem like an exercise in futility.  So prepart to pay more for your veggies this summer and fall, and if the weather pattern doesn't change this winter, welcome to a future of more and more uncertainty.