15 months ago
NEW GLOUCESTER (NEWS CENTER) -- All of the rain of the past few days has this June quickly climbing to be amongst the wettest on record. According to the National Weather Service in Gray, the city of Portland has seen nearly seven inches of rain so far this month and the city is just one tenth of an inch from making this June the sixth wettest since record-keeping began in 1871. Adding insult to injury, the temperatures haven't been much to cheer about either. In Bangor, the city hasn't seen a day yet this month that was above normal, and only one day has the temperature even reached the average high.
With all the rain, local farmers are working hard to keep their crops from being washed out. The end of June usually signals the arrival of a sweet sign of summer - strawberries. Several pick-your-own farms have opened or are scheduled to open in the next few days and they have berries, lots of them in fact. The problem is the lack of sun and heat has made for smaller, and in some cases, less sweet berries, but a couple days of sun will change that quickly.
At Gillespie's Farm in New Gloucester, farm manager Greg Gillespie has been shuffling his crew's schedules to take advantage of breaks in the weather. "There's a lot of windows of opportunities that you have to take, whether it is a Sunday or it is an afternoon, so that you work around the clock to catch up with these rainy days," said Gillespie. "Mother Nature, what do you do? You have to live with it and keep a good attitude and just keep on plugging'," Gillespie added. His farm opened it's pick-your-own operation today and had lots of ripe berries just waiting to be picked. "Naturally, with no sun, the sugars aren't as developed like they should be, but the flavors are still pretty well."
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