Given the recent days of freezing temperatures, additional precautions have been taken by Rudy’s Happy Patch Market manager Charles Tanner, to protect vulnerable fruits and vegetables. During cold snaps, they are moved into a warmer indoor location. The procedure is a reverse of what happens during hot summer days, when freshly picked vegetables crave cooler temps.

“During the summer, we have to find cooler places to store and protect our vegetable and fruit inventories,” Charles explains. “I guess with the frozen temperatures, we could have left the vegetables and fruits displayed outside. But the weather was too cold. So we moved them into a locked and warmer environment.”

In other market news, Happy Patch will soon operate an additional site. Explains Perry Wellness Center CEO Stuart Perry, “We are working to create a new market in Pinehurst, Georgia, on Interstate 75. We will have more on-site growing and purchasing of increased vegetables from local markets.”

In the above photo, Vicki Lamica greets the warming sun at Rudy’s Happy Patch Market and displays protected tomatoes for customers’ selection.