http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-956657.mp3
New Orleans, LA –
Hi, this is Richard McCarthy with the WWNO Farmers Market Minute The other morning, my daughter asked me, "Where have all the satsumas gone?" For someone who in her short life has consumed nearly an orchid's worth of Plaquemines citrus, this is indeed a serious question. By Halloween, we're usually smugly opening up sacks of satsumas. Well, here's what we're hearing from the fields: The especially long and cold winter has triggered a delay for this autumn's crops. It's as though the trees were told to push everything back until November. This is yet another reminder of the risks and uncertainties that persist in agriculture. We'd all like to think we have some control over our lives; however, old man winter pushed spring 2010 out of the way and plopped us down into the hottest, longest summer and autumnal drought. What will this mean for this season's citrus? The sweetest? The smallest crop or the greatest one yet? For now, I keep waiting. For the WWNO farmers market minute, this is Richard McCarthy.