Drought continues to strain farmers, gardeners in central North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Wake County remains under severe drought conditions, while Durham and Orange counties remain in extreme drought, creating challenges for farmers and home gardeners despite recent rainfall.

At the State Farmers Market on Sunday, Dallas Alford and his family shopped for additions to their garden.

"Tomato .. Squash.. Japanese eggplant.. A little bit of everything.. Cucumbers.." Alford said.

Both backyard gardeners and commercial growers are dealing with difficult growing conditions.

"It's very challenging with the dry and heat and the hot weather but thank God in the last week, week and a half we've had over 10 inches of rain in our farm and nursery area," said John Harmuth of Longhill Nursery.

Harmuth said he advises customers to be mindful of how much they plant and water.

"So the main thing we tell them is don't buy more that you can easily keep irrigated, don't buy more than you can water easily," he said.

Alford said his family has adjusted its gardening approach in response to the drought.

"It has been some trial and error and some planning and you know putting some rain barrels in place to kind of capture it and be a little bit more efficient and things of that nature," Alford said.

At Fifth Season Gardening, employees are seeing customers adopt new ways to conserve water, including irrigation systems, hoses, terra cotta pots designed to slowly release water and large rain barrels.

"It's one of those things that's an investment you just sit it in your yard, let go it, it fills up and then you have that water when you need it," said Zoe Heckathorn of Fifth Season Gardening.

The drought has also damaged some crops, particularly tomatoes, prompting some growers to start over.

"And so then your fruit starts to rot, stuff like that. And just, you know, tomatoes themselves are susceptible to that and just breaking open with too much rain or too little rain. Then they shrivel up and they don't grow. So we've also had people that have lost their crop and they're replacing them. Some crops are a little bit more resilient to that, but others are not," Heckathorn said.

Farmers say continued community support remains important as they navigate the ongoing drought.

"I would say that. Come on out. The farmers really need people to come and buy the crops, whether it's nursery plants or corn or fruits or any kind of agricultural product. They're really hurting this year. They all need to help buy local," Harmuth said.

More rain is in the forecast this week, but current projections do not indicate that Raleigh or Durham will move out of their existing water restriction levels.

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