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Rain
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Muskrat Farms in Amissville said. He said his pond, designed specifically to feed his irrigation system, is lapping at its banks.
He specializes in pick-your-own fruits and vegetables on his farm, and said that the outlook so far is for a good year. "The strawberries area ready and plentiful,” though most of the other crops are still in the early stages of development.
Mariam Harris of Jordan River Farms in Huntly, who offers organicallv-grown pick-your-own strawberries, said that the spring rains stopped just in time for the berries to ripen perfectly.
Though strawberry plantings are harmed more by a late summer drought than a lack of rain in the spring, Mrs. Harris said, the lack of rain last year “really affected” other parts of their farming operation. "Water ran out in places that never went dry. and our hay crop was poor." This year, the spring rains “really saved” the hay crop and other parts of the farming operation she has run with her husband for 18 years.
Mr. Call said his hay crop, after reseeding several acres lost to the drought last summer, was plentiful. "We had a nice dry spell which gave us time to get the hay up," he said, adding that last year’s intense heat and persistent breezes dried the soi of all moisture, causing more losses.
W’ith another 4.45 inches re corded by Mr. Wingfield so far this month, farmers may harvest yet an other bumper crop of hay during tht early summer. And that hasn't gone unnoticed by the farmers, Mr. Wing field said. "The guys at the barbel shop said ‘I’ve been kind to them this year’ — they’ve never seen so much hay."
Mr. Wingfield, who has beer watching and recording the weathei in Sperryville for more than 2J years, said the byword over the past several years has been, “inconsistent."
He is familiar to many countv residents as one of Channel 4’s "Weather Watchers,” and he alsc submits his reports to the Nationa Weather Service. His records have also been used in insurance investi gations and legal matters.
"I don’t think about the time il involves,” Mr. Wingfield said of the twice-daily temperature and precip itation checks of the weather statior
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