With colder temperatures moving in and weather changing from week to week, farmers across South Georgia are looking for ways to keep their crops from going bad.
- Cold temperatures can burn crops, kill blooms, and slow produce growth
- Davis Produce uses greenhouses, early picking, and storage to prevent losses
- Watch the video below to see how winter favorites like frozen greens and boiled peanuts help keep sales steady
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
As winter settles in, local produce stands start to look a little different and there's a reason why.
"They're saying it's getting cold like it used to when we were kids," said Rusty Davis, Farmer and business owner.
I'm Layan Abu Tarboush, your Thomasville neighborhood reporter.
I'm taking you inside how cold weather impacts what farmers can grow and how vendors like Davis Produce keep business going.
"Your green vegetables like the collards, mustards, turnips, they're very, very sensitive to the cold. And like our green top onions, the strawberry onions, they're sensitive to the cold also. they grow them in the middle of the strawberry fields because that helps keep the insecticides, the pests off of the strawberries," said Natalie Williams who runs the shop.
At Davis Produce on Smith Avenue, everything sold here is grown in Florida and Georgia... from greens and onions to seasonal fruits.
They focus on fresh, local produce without heavy chemicals or preservatives.
But in the middle of winter, business slows down. It's colder outside, fewer people shop, and it becomes harder for farmers to protect crops as temperatures swing.
One option is using greenhouses.
"Anything is sensitive to the cold. We grow some tomatoes in a greenhouse in the wintertime or we can adapt them to the climate through heaters. And when it gets hot, we'll let the shades down and let wind blow in there and cool them off," said Davis.
But greenhouse space is limited, and the cost to heat and manage them adds up.
So another option is closely watching the forecast and picking fruit early.
"Anything below 28 degrees, sort of kill the blooms, burns them off. And then that fruit will have to sit there and reapply blooms before it actually fruits on the English peas. Your collards, turnips, and mustard, the collards and cabbage and rutabagas, they handle the cold pretty good. But anytime you get below 25 degrees, it'll affect the mustard first. And sort of like burn the leaves and then they'll just, they'll be no good no more," said Davis.
To keep business steady during the colder months, the shop also adjusts what it offers.
Along with winter fruits and vegetables, they sell frozen peas and greens picked fresh during peak season and one southern favorite that keeps people coming back: boiled peanuts.
"I mean, we do almost a pot of boiled peanuts a day, go through about a pot of boiled peanuts a day, and we take and boil a pot fresh every single morning. So we sell a lot of boiled peanuts when it gets cold," said Williams.
Davis Produce says no matter the weather, they're open seven days a week — 8 to 6 most days, and 11 to 6 on Sundays.
In Thomasville, Layan Abu Tarboush, ABC 27.
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