Farmer worries about Linvilla Orchards' fruit crops after rollercoaster temperatures this spring in Pennsylvania

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) – The rollercoaster temperatures the Delaware Valley has experienced lately are threatening the crops at Linvilla Orchards.

Peaches and apples are the two most popular fruits that people pick at the farm. But farm manager Norm Schultz said last month's early warmth, followed by freezing temperatures, damaged some of the blossoms on the trees.

Frost-damaged blossoms won't bear fruit, which means customers might not have as many peaches and apples to pick this year.

"They always say don't worry about the things you can't control," Schultz said, "but all farmers I know, we do worry because it's our livelihood."

When temperatures dipped below the freezing point on March 22, the farm lit 40 bonfires to keep the trees warm overnight.

In:
• Pennsylvania
• Delaware Valley
• Apple
• Delaware County
• Farmers

Madeleine Wright

Madeleine Wright is a bilingual general assignment reporter for CBS News Philadelphia who is fluent in Spanish. She joined the team in January 2022 and was named the Delaware County reporter in July 2023.

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