LEHIGHTON, Pa. — The corn at Yenser's Tree Farm near Lehighton may be tiny now, but farmer Ryan Wentz says because of recent rain, it'll be knee-high by the fourth of July.
"I don't think we're out of the woods yet, but the last couple of storms that we had put us in pretty good shape," said Wentz. "I mean, everything really started to green up. Things are coming out of the ground now that we planted."
The farm in Mahoning Township grows pumpkins, sunflowers, Christmas trees, and corn.
Wentz said it was difficult during the dry spell to pick and choose what needed water the most.
But no matter how much you water, he says, the rain just does a much better job.
"We tried watering some of our Christmas tree seedlings, and nothing compares to the Rain, and it's amazing when you look at how much rain falls even with a drizzle. The number of gallons that fall on the ground as opposed to you trying to water," Wentz said.
It's been so dry that only recently, these sunflowers started to grow. But don't worry, thanks to the recent wet weather, this entire field will be covered with flowers and be ready for the first two weeks of August when the farm hosts its sunflower festival.
"They're on track," Wentz said. "They're coming out of the ground now again; they were planted Memorial Day weekend; some of the stuff for our maze, the taller branching ones that take a little bit longer, but we planted them a week earlier than we did last year. "
Wentz says if we didn't get the rain when we got it, not only would he have lost a lot of crops, but it would have set all the plants back.
"Like the driest May that anyone remembers," Wentz said. "So between the drought and we had that frost, it put a number on some of our Christmas trees, but the younger ones, luckily, are what hits us most, and they'll grow out of that, you know, by the time they're ready to be harvested. So very fortunate.
Wentz hopes mother nature cooperates for the rest of the warm weather season.
Click here for information on the Sunflower Festival.
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