If you think back to May of last year you might remember that we were up to our eyeballs in delicious ripe strawberries.
Strawberries are one of the very first things we started growing here on our farm and being well and truly organic is actually a rarity for our area. In fact, we’re one of only a few farms in our area that grow strawberries this way.
It all starts in the fall when we plant strawberry bare root plants (as opposed to seeds) out in the fields. We plant through a mulch in order to let the plants establish a good root system before winter. The mulch also helps to protect them from cold damage and in the spring, it helps keep the weeds in check. When it comes time to harvest, we make sure that we give the strawberries plenty of time to ripen on the vine before picking so that they have every opportunity to get a deep red which means they’ll be extra juicy and super sweet. This means harvesting often to optimize ripeness and flavor.
This is, of course, if conditions are optimal. Unfortunately we had a particularly nasty fall and winter this past year when the strawberries were planted and with the spread of a regional plant disease affecting our crop as well as those from other strawberry growers in the Southeastern US, we’re left with an even shorter strawberry season than usual.
It’s not the news we hoped to share but there will be less strawberries available this spring than some years. Let’s hope for the best and we’ll definitely keep you posted.
The good news though is that whatever strawberries we are able to harvest will first be available to our CSA shareholders. It’s not too late to join now for summer and get first and exclusive access to our season’s best produce, meat, flowers, eggs and more!