The continental jet stream has kept our Maritime region in a long period of cooler than normal weather. May and June have been good for planting and we’ve had plenty of rain, but many crops have been a little slower getting started than if it had been warmer. Strawberries, for example, have just now come into full production.   

But we certainly have no reason to complain, especially when you think of what farmers and gardeners in western Canada are facing. Unprecedented heat and lack of rain is building up to crop failures on a large scale.    And then there is the Central Valley of California where so much of the produce in supermarkets comes from. The drought conditions are now severe. Vast acreages are longer planted for lack of water.

Growing local is increasingly important, maybe soon it will be critical.    Water is truly the lifeline of good harvests and we are blessed on that account. I remember one time when I was waiting for weeks of soggy weather to pass so I could get back to weeding   and cultivating, I wrote in my journal: “Too much rain slows us up, but not enough fails the crop.”    The meteorologists are forecasting warmer weather for July and August, so we should see the summer market season coming on strong very soon.

Early greens continue in the Woodstock Farm Market on Friday. A small supply of new potatoes was available last Friday so more are sure to come.   

FARM MARKETS ON THE RISE   Farm Markets are getting more and more publicity all around the province. Seasonal Markets are being organized in many smaller communities. Now that the Woodstock Farm and Craft Market has completed its interior renovations, our website is getting a make over as well. The goal is to get up a page for each vendor with product information and photos. This feature will take a little time to complete, but a start has been made. 

The Tourism Office has engaged a photographer, Justin Connors, for this who was in the Market on a recent Friday snapping pictures of vendors and stall layouts. It turns out he has a personal interest in Farm Market photography and is developing a project on his website called “The People of NB Farm Markets” It, too, appears to be just starting up so it will interesting to  watch as he adds more and more Farm Market photos.

When I think back to how things were in 1973 when the Woodstock Farm Market started, and there were only two other Farm Markets in the province, it is easy to see how far we have come in making real the slogan, “local business means business.”