Barrie’s Asparagus Farm hit hard by cold snap

Barrie's Asparagus Farm & Country Market has been hit hard by the unprecedented cold temperatures this year. 

Over the past couple of days, Waterloo Region has seen record low temperatures, and for farmers like Tim Barrie, it can be pretty damaging. 

“The heavy frost and temperatures has basically killed everything right before we were ready to start, it's basically not edible.”

He said, in a video posted to Facebook, that if the frost continues, it will kill anything that's above the ground. 

“Then we need to wait for the stuff underneath to come through. Underneath there will be fresh asparagus coming through and we hope to be going by next weekend with our crop.”

Barrie said the weather challenges have set them back. 

“This isn't what we were hoping for this year. With the virus we were hoping to get an early start for everybody, we really hoped to have it for Mother's Day, but it's just not in the cards in this year.”

The farm has also made a lot of changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have implemented social distancing protocols, added a three customer limit in their store, and have supplied protective gear to their staff members.