Wind and rain over the past few weeks are making muck farmers a little edgy about their onion crop for this season.
They know now they won't have a bumper crop, especially from fields planted with seed rather than transplants, but what happens with the weather over the next four weeks will be critical.
Following two-and-a-half inches of rain last week, they need some dry whether, but another inch of rain is forecast for tomorrow (Thursday).
"It would be nice if it were 80 degrees, sunny and a little bit of breeze," said Paul Mortellaro of G. Mortellaro & Sons.
On a tour of the muck today, Mortellaro pointed out the fields planted with transplants look pretty healthy. They're less susceptible to rain and the bigger plants are better equipped to respirate (pump off the water from the ground).
Fields planted with seedlings have been thinned out by wind -- wind can shear off an onion top -- or have been too saturated by water and there's been some die-off.
The right time for some rain would be when the onions start to bulb, which is three our four weeks from now.
"What determines the size of the onion is its size when it starts to bulb," Mortellaro said. "We need some good rain during that time."
Even with the slow start, the muckers could get perfect whether the rest of the season and enjoy a good harvest.
"Three or for weeks from now, this all could be forgotten," Mortellaro said.
"He's right," said Maureen Torrey of Torrey Farms. "We have a long way to go before our crops are made."
Beyond that, Torrey was hesitant to comment because she didn't want to jinx anything.
Christian Yunker at CY Farms said early indications are yields will be down this year, but how much depends on what happens with the weather the rest of the growing season.
Right now, he said, a lot of onions have "wet feet," and that inhibits their growth. Like other farmers of the muck, he's hoping tomorrow's storm doesn't do too much damage and then we get some dry weather.
"It's pretty early to tell, but we've taken a little bit of a hit," Yunker said. "They're not off to a great start, but it's too early to say your yield will be down to X."
Photo: A seeded muck field. The dead-looking plants in between the green rows of onions is barley, planted along side the onion seeds to act as a wind break. Once the onions reach a certain stage of grow, the barley is killed off.
