The North Carolina Strawberry Association, a nonprofit association of farmers and others in the strawberry industry, sent out a press release today about the bumper crop of strawberries likely to come out of the state this year. While that’s quite good for farmers (strawberries net more than $25 million annually for the state, which ranks No. 3 nationwide in value of strawberry production), it’s interesting — and maybe a little unnerving — to read quotes from growers claiming that they’ve never quite seen a season like this:
Triangle-area/Raleigh: Vollmer Farm, Bunn, N.C.
“I picked three, 5-pound buckets of my early variety strawberries already,” says John Vollmer, an organic strawberry grower located in Bunn. “This is the first time I’ve picked strawberries this early,” he adds. He says his fields will open for public picking the first week of April with strawberries also available in his market.
Strawberries are planted in the fall and grow throughout the winter. Vollmer says that during most winters he has 12 to 16 nights of frost protection, with March bringing the greatest weather threats. “This year we only had six nights of frost protection,” says Vollmer who has grown strawberries on his Triangle-area farm since 1993.
Coastal Plains/Greenville area: Strawberries on 903, Winterville, N.C.
“In the 12 years I’ve been growing strawberries, this is by far the mildest winter and earliest crop I’ve ever seen. Our crop looks good this year with no disease problems,” says Mike Skinner, co-owner of Strawberries on 903, a 4th generation family farm located in a National Historic District.
Southern Piedmont/Charlotte area: Patterson Farm, Inc., China Grove, NC
“We’re seeing lots of healthy plants and good blooms which indicate it should be a bumper crop,” says Doug Patterson, co-owner of Patterson Farm, Inc. in China Grove. “Right now, our strawberry crop is earlier than last year. We usually open May 1, but we might be open by April 25 this season,” speculates Patterson who grows 36 acres of strawberries with his brother on a 3rd generation family farm that dates back to 1919.
So yes, the weather is almost eerily screwy, but at least we’ll have plenty of strawberries to eat.
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