Every season is different

No two growing seasons are alike, at least not here in S.W. Michigan. 2009 however, is really different. Today it's 59 degrees as I write this, and the wind is out of the North at 8 MPH, and there's a damp mist in the air.

Weather rules. No matter how skilled the grower, Mother Nature is the final arbiter, and sooner or later, growers learn to accept this fact and not let it bother them...too much.

Ditto for the produce buyer who understands Berrien County, Michigan's promise and its uncertainties. The promise, while ever present, can be broken without notice, without reason, and without prejudice. Still, they come from far and wide because when the promise is not broken, some of the world's best fruit may be procured here in abundance.

So far this season though, the fruit has been mediocre. Too much rain, an early heat wave, and now, unseasonably cool weather is putting the breaks on fruit development.

Yet with our gritty soils and inevitable stretches of dry weather, we'll have some outstanding fruit during 2009; we always have, and so long as growers continue to plant fruit here, we always will.