The Hendersonville Times-News reported Friday that this week’s cold snap likely set back Henderson County’s summer peach harvest, farmers and Cooperative Extension agents say, but the local apple and grape crops appear to have fared better thanks to a late spring that kept buds wrapped up tight.
However, farmers say the jury is still out on how much damage sub-freezing temperatures this winter had on those fruits. Even injury sustained earlier this winter, when temperatures dipped below zero, won’t become apparent for a few weeks, agricultural experts said.
Along with grapes and early apples, “stone fruits” such as peaches and cherries are the local crops most vulnerable when the mercury plunges into the teens or mid-20s in early spring, as it did Wednesday and Thursday, according to County Extension Director Marvin Owings Jr.
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