Market Farmers Share How They Deal With the Heat

Despite record high temperatures that are scorching much of the United States this summer, market gardeners keep working. They have to harvest, plant and sell their products, whatever the temperature. Growing for Market magazine recently asked readers to share advice for dealing with the heat, and got great responses from people across the country who have figured out strategies for keeping themselves and their crops cool. Here are some suggestions that might help you beat the heat:

First, be cautious about working outside when it’s in the upper 90s and higher. Take it easy, work for just an hour or two before taking a rest, drink plenty of water, and get up extra early so you can get the hard work done before it gets too hot. One reader says she works until midnight by the light of the tractor; another says she tries to be in place and ready to pick tomatoes the instant the morning light is bright enough that she can see what’s ripe.

When the sun climbs high, evaporative cooling becomes a grower’s best friend. A Texas grower says she wears long, loose clothing and soaks herself completely with the hose a couple of times an hour. A Missouri grower takes a cooler of ice water and hand towels to the field and drapes a chilly wet towel across the back of her neck, exchanging it often for another cold one.