Georgia: The Extreme Freeze of 2017
A devastatingly extreme freeze in Alma and Bacon counties, Georgia
occurred on March 15-17, 2017. A blast of Siberian air plunged
temperatures into the lower 20s, devastating the region's
early-blooming blueberry crop. This followed a notably mild winter
and destroyed an estimated 70% to 80% of the harvest resulting in
$300 to $400 million in damages to the state's blueberry industry.
Swimming in the pool on Christmas Day
Ann is known as the Blueberry Queen in the small rural town of Alma,
Georgia, "Blueberry Capital of the State." She and her husband
started growing blueberries on their 10-acre farm in the early
1970's. Besides helping run the farm, now 50 acres, Ann was a
school teacher in business accounting and law until retiring in
2013, and since has followed her passion top open her store that
sells "everything blueberry," from soap and syrup to beef jerky and
pepper jelly. Ann described the freeze of 2017 which resulted in
devestating losses to the Georgia blueberry and peach crop.
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