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Growers shudder, but shrug off cold
An icy dose of winter makes plant nursery owners and strawberry growers jump into action to protect the crops.
By JORGE SANCHEZ, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2002
FLORAL CITY -- A late-season cold snap put a chill in the hearts of vegetable and flower gardeners throughout Citrus County on Wednesday as worried growers covered tender new growth with sheets and blankets to ward off the expected overnight frost.
And it's probably a good idea to protect your plants for a second night tonight, according to a nursery operator.
"We're going to get a second night of frost tonight," said Craig Collins, owner of Color Country Nursery on State Road 44 in Lecanto. "It won't be as bad as last night."
"If you live near a lake, you probably won't get frost tonight, but for people in central Citrus, like Citrus Hills, just leave the plants covered another night," he said.
Today's forecast calls for freezing overnight temperatures, with Friday morning having a good chance for frost. The weather should warm up for the weekend.
The blast of cold weather overnight was not expected to pose much of a threat to the local strawberry crop, according to a local grower. Ferris Farms in Floral City is busy bringing in a good harvest of juicy and sweet strawberries, and the farm managers are basically shrugging off the cold.
"We've been picking today, and we'll pick tomorrow as well," said packing house manager Linda Gallant on Wednesday.
She said the strawberries would be covered with water to form a protective layer of ice overnight.
"But we'll be back out there around 11 a.m. Thursday picking them," she said.
"It's only a concern when there are three or four nights of hard freezes. We've had a good growing season this year."
Ferris Farms will supply berries for the Floral City Strawberry Festival Saturday and Sunday at Floral City Park.
The Ferris packing house will chop up about 600 flats of strawberries for shortcake topping and expects to supply the Chamber of Commerce with another 1,200 flats of fresh strawberries to sell on site.
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