Market Gardeners in Auvergne Plains Face Frost and Freezing Temperatures Threatening Produce Loss

Frost and freezing temperatures are back in the Auvergne plains. Market gardeners who had started are worried about losing part of their produce.

Snow falls on the frozen salads of Sébastien Fayot, market gardener in Arfeuilles, in Allier, “It’s 2 degrees and the vegetables I planted don’t like those temperature changes”but he has no choice, to save his produce, he protects his plants as best he can, “It’s up to us to change and not to nature. So we try to capture the sun to bring heat back at night, we use protective sails, but we can’t -save everything. The temperature differences are huge so we’re trying to sort this out a bit.”. In greenhouses, his seedlings are covered and he also uses “tubes, placed on either side of the crop”, which contains water. This water naturally heats the day and it is this heat that keeps the crop at a temperature during the night.

This sudden drop in temperature also threatens the flowering of his fruit trees, explained Sébastien Fayot, “we know we will have damage, about 10%. This season has fragile vegetables and is not easy to manage“.

In the Puy de Dôme in Crevant-Laveine, Étienne Rey, who was also a market gardener, was surprised by the frost, “I lost part of my harvest with the mild temperature, we rushed to plant the tomatoes and they were doing well in the greenhouse, but with that temperature, growth will be delayed. “. Étienne also lost the zucchini planted outside the greenhouses. To protect his production, he decided to do it “Burning wood chips early in the morning helps keep temperatures mild.” Before you see beautiful tomatoes and zucchini on the markets, they must be alert, at least until the Ice Saints, from May 11 to 13.

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