CATAWISSA -- A farmer in Columbia County calls last winter's cold weather ideal for crops and that could mean a good supply of locally-grown fruits and vegetables this year.
They are only blossoms right now but Ron Rohrbach of Rohrbach's Farm Market near Catawissa says the buds will soon be full size nectarines.
Crews thinned out some of the blossoms so that healthy ones can grow.
"So a limb like that, we're just coming in and doing that."
Rohrbach says this spring, all of his fruits are growing right on schedule.
"all of the fruit crop is coming at the time we normally expect it to be in this area: peaches blossoming towards the end of April and apples blossoming around Mother's Day."
Rohrbach is happy with this year's crop of fruits and vegetables and says this is the first year in a long time he is having a good and normal season, unlike last year when fruits were two to three weeks ahead of schedule.
"The consistent cold that we had this winter was actually perfect and ideal for us to grow a decent fruit crop because it kept everything in a dormant stage until it was time for everything to start growing and now it's coming along when it should be."
So what does this mean for you? Rohrbach says the good season means a plentiful crop of locally-grown fruits and vegetables should be available in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.
"Buy fresh, buy local. You'll get it close to the date it's picked and you'll have good fresh quality fruit."
Rohrbach's Farm Market on Route 487 near Catawissa opens Thursday. He plans to sell his fruits and vegetables as soon as they are ready