Farmers on the Northeast Avalon region are getting more than frustrated with the cold weather and lack of sunshine – and are reporting an exceptionally late start for their crops. John Lester, whose family operates a large farm in the west end of St. John’s, said his strawberry crops are running almost 10 days behind normal, and his other vegetable crops are in the same position. On a micro level, the weather has kept many gardeners from taking to the outdoors, meaning that gardening and agricultural centres are still fully stocked with vegetables and plants. Though there is still sign of hope; as of 9:04am in the Freshwater Road area, the sun is flirting with making an appearance. “If we get some nice hot, sunny weather now, yeah, they may be off by five, six days, or something like that … I think that they’ll do a pretty good job of catching up.”
