Cauliflower and artichokes hit hard by bad weather in Pas-de-Calais, France

The frost and rain have hit fruit growing in particular hard, but vegetable growing has also suffered losses this year. In Clairmarais (Pas-de-Calais) in France, the Morel brothers make up the damage to their crop. "This part is flooded," Xavier Morel says of his cauliflowers with floppy, yellowish leaves. The fields are completely submerged. In June alone, it rained twice as much as the average for the past 30 years. "I've lost about 50,000 of my 180,000 cauliflowers," estimates the grower. With the artichokes, it is not the rain, but the frost that has caused damage. "Usually we manage to get what we need from the local growers, but this year we have to offer products from Brittany for sale," explains Laura Thiebaut, who sells Clairmarais vegetables. "December frost is not a problem because the artichokes are in hibernation. Like the apple trees that don't like frost when they're in bloom, artichokes don't like frost when they come out of hibernation," explains Xavier. According ...