REHOBOTH BEACH, DE - Some flower vendors at Rehoboth Beach's Farmers Market reported feeling the effects of the continuing dry conditions across Delmarva.
With the peninsula nearing a month with no rain, some farmers across the peninsula have reported being affected by the drought conditions. On Tuesday, some flower vendors at the Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market told WBOC they've also been adversely affected.
Chris Sylvester, the owner of Spectrum Farms based in Felton, Delaware, was one of those farmers. Sylvester said their farm does not have a full irrigation system, and that some of their fields began to wane in October. According to Sylvester, this is roughly a month earlier than they normally expect, depending on when the first frost comes for the season.
"We found that our flower's stem lengths weren't as tall and the flowers weren't as robust," Sylvester said. "We're always excited to bring stuff here and we always want to be as bountiful as possible, but we definitely started to notice that stem length, stem counts, and things like that were starting to be impacted."
Sylvester said they've been able to make do this season, utilizing back-up fields of flowers and lining their stand with pumpkins and other goods. However, Sylvester expressed concern for their hearty annual flowers, which are grown over the winter for next year's market season.
"Next May when this market opens back up we'll have spring flowers, but we're wanting to get them established now," Sylvester said. "So we need rain and water now. So this drought, while it's impacting crops this season, we're also concerned about what our crops will look like next year."
A few shoppers WBOC spoke with at the farmers market on Tuesday said they've noticed the effect the drought has had on flower vendors.
One regular, Scott Shaugnessy, said he's spoken with multiple flower vendors at the market about their struggles with the drought. Shaughnessy said there have been a few weeks where he's had to go and buy flowers at the grocery store when he'd rather be buying them from local farmers.
"I'm all about supporting the local farmers, local growers," Shaughnessy said. "I have a lot more confidence in their methods and the quality of their products."
Sylvester told WBOC that the drought has been eye-opening for Spectrum Farms and that they plan to adapt for next year's season.
"It's definitely been a realization on making sure that we have adequate irrigation," Sylvester said. "We were gonna expand the farm a couple more acres next year, but we're gonna hang tight on that until we can have proper well and irrigation implemented on the farm."
