SUSSEX COUNTY, Del.- An unseasonably warm start to October is already impacting farms on Delmarva, including in Sussex County, Delaware.
At Evans Farms in Bridgeville, Katey Evans says they've been able to harvest watermelon way later than usual, but the summer temps has cut back on fall sales.
"People aren't really wanting to decorate their front porches in this beautiful weather," she tells WBOC. "They're not really buying pumpkins and mums quite like they would if the weather was a little bit cooler."
However, Evans says the weather is perfect for their upcoming Fall Festival, complete with a mobile zoo, pumpkin putt putt and of course, a corn maze. Evans says it has also helped them harvest corn for consumption as it has dried it out.
"The wet weather we've had has all pushed us to the same timeframe and now that we've got this little break in heat, everybody is just running like crazy trying to get everything done," she says.
Rob Dick at Totem Farms says the heat wave is causing summer crops to flourish.
"Things like eggplants, peppers, items like that who love the heat who will keep producing until frost," he says.
However, Dick says lettuce has not been so lucky.
"Lettuces just do not like heat," he tells WBOC. "It turns them a little bitter to making them tougher."
