Temperatures are dipping below freezing for many across the area, forcing blueberry farmers to prepare for the worst.
There’s only a handful of ways farmers can protect their blueberries, and to them, it’s a financial gamble.
“Mother Nature is a tough lady,” said Ross Davies, a farmer at Winyah Blueberry Farm. “I’m not going down without a fight.”
Davies gets her income from her blueberries, so it’s a risk when ice cold temperatures hit.
“It’s very frustrating because I’ve got a mortgage, you know, we didn’t win the lottery, so I’ve got a mortgage, so I plan on this blueberry crop paying for a mortgage,” she said.
Only one minute of 30 degree temperatures can kill the berries.
Davies will use 27 bundles of frost blankets to try and insulate the plants, but that can be hit or miss.
“I came out here yesterday, it was raining, and half the frost blankets had blown off, so all day yesterday I tried to put them back on,” said Davies.
Will Duncan at Bluefield Blueberry Farm says there is good news if the blueberries die in the cold weather.
“Some varieties will bloom a second time, and I’m hoping that if they get hurt bad tonight, that there’ll be enough time in the season for maybe the ones that will to possibly bloom again,” said Duncan.
The frost hit the farm’s previous owner’s crop and Davies says she doesn’t want a repeat of last year.
“She lost everything. She made, I’m trying to think what she made, a hundred dollars,” said Davies.
