Popular holiday crops overcome a season of extreme weather

WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — “Extreme drought, extreme heat, and extreme flooding” Robinson exclaimed. 

Jerry Robinson, owner of Robinson Produce Farms in Whiteville says he and other southeastern North Carolina farmers had to battle the weather this year. 

“It just makes it hard on what we try to do because our job is based on the weather anyway. So, you just have to work around all of the weather conditions. Naturally you need rain when you need it, you need sunshine when you need it. Everything this year has just been kinda against us,” Robinson stated. 

Robinson says they had to replant crops numerous times this year and those crops continued to suffer. 

“Our yield was cut a lot in pumpkins, watermelons, and greens as well due to the extreme weather. We had the drought…the flooding and it just put a hurting on the crops there for a while,” Robinson said. 

One of the crops on sale this time of year is collards.  

Robinson says although it was a tough season for the popular vegetable, his recovered well. 

“Collards are a staple this time of year, thanksgiving and what have you. They’re a really healthy nutritious crop. We’ve made the crop amazingly; at planting time it was kind of rough,” Robinson noted. 

“Collards are listed as a super food, it’s high in antioxidants, which is good for your health. If people just take the time to prepare them and season them right, they’re a wonderful meal,” Robinson added. 

Robinson says he’s hoping this holiday season will be a good one for himself and other local farmers after what has been a challenging year. 

Robinson adds they also sell Christmas trees that they got from a farm in western North Carolina.  

The only difference in the trees this year is that prices increased but they still have a good supply. 

To get local produce and support local farmers Robinson Produce Farms has CSA Produce Boxes for sale. You pay one price ahead of time for 8 weeks’ worth of fresh produce.