GREEN BLUFF, Wash. — With the Inland Northwest being in the midst of a prolonged heatwave, one farm in Green Bluff couldn’t be more thankful for the warm temperatures.
Beck’s Harvest House is a produce market and farm in the heart of Green Bluff. Owner Todd Beck says while his staff is trying to beat the heat as they work, they couldn’t be more thankful for it.
Beck said, “What we do is what's called agrotourism, or entertainment farming, which means we're agriculturally based and the foundation of what we do is agriculture in the products that we grow and what we do.”
The farm is thankful for the warm temperatures as a deep freeze this past winter wiped out their entire crop of peaches and cherries. Beck said, “If all I had to offer the consumer was just the stuff I grew in the field, and lost that much of my crop that year, it'd be devastating to us.”
Beck said the negative temperatures didn’t necessarily play a factor, but instead, it was the timing of the freeze. “That early one is December, there was still sap growing in the trees, so it hit so hard so quick, the tree wasn't ready for it, so that's what killed our peaches and our cherries,” said Beck.
Beck says these hot temperatures are an overall positive because they are helping him make up for lost time. “We didn't have a lot of consistent heat in early June, so that kind of started out the strawberries and raspberries a little slower than what normally we would have this season. So, that little boost of heat gave a little punch into the berries and really got them ripe. Now, the raspberries are coming off great. They're juicy, they're sweet, they're ready to roll, said Beck.”
Beck said he is glad the triple-digit temperatures aren’t sticking around. He does say the boost of heat is helpful, but too much can hurt the trees with over-exhaustion.