By Lauren Garrison, Register Staff
Berry enthusiasts have had a rare treat this spring and early summer: ripe, ready-to-pick strawberries in late May, and blueberries in late June, more than two weeks ahead of schedule, according to area farmers.
And corn is next.
Families heading to Jones Family Farm in Shelton last week for a pick-your-own experience were fortunate to see the last of the strawberry crop and the first of the blueberries. There were also pick-your-own blueberries last week at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford.
“Our strawberries were about 2 1/2 weeks early, earlier than usual. We’ve never, in almost 50 years of selling strawberries, been open in May for picking, and this year we were,” said Keith Padin, director of marketing and hospitality at the farm. Blueberry picking, which started last week, was also about 2 1/2 weeks early, he said.
Over at Stone Gardens Farm in Shelton, Stacia Monahan, who owns the business with her husband, Fred, said they’re getting ready to start picking corn this week. In the last few years, corn harvesting has waited until about July 20, she said.
“It looks like there’s a lot of corn in the field, and everything looks like it’s growing great,” Monahan said.
The comments were echoed by Linda Piotrowicz, marketing representative for the state Department of Agriculture. It’s great for consumers who have more to pick from than normally. And, it’s a relief for farmers compared to spring 2009, which was cool and very wet.
“(Last year, farmers) had difficulty accessing the crops because the fields were too wet to get equipment in. There was not a lot of sun to push along the growth. Some of the crops were actually rotting in the fields because they were so wet. Farms that rely on pick-your-own customers had a poor season because people couldn’t get out into the fields to pick. It was challenging all the way around,” she said.
To read the entire story, including photos and video visit HERE.