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Call the Crop Report for the Farm and Winery Updates 

Unusual Weather Patterns Create Earliest Strawberry Harvest in Over 50 Years!

The winter and spring seasons of 2012 were ones for the record books. Record high temperatures, droughts, late spring frosts and freezes and weeks of misty rain have all added to a very unusual climate in southern New England. For several weeks area farmers have been trying to figure out what all this means for their crops. For Terry Jones, one of the longest-continuous strawberry growers in the Connecticut, it brings a picking season earlier than ever.

“We’ve never had people at our farm picking this early in May,” said Jones who has been inviting guests to pick their own berries at his Shelton, CT farm since the 1960s. Jones Family Farms opened for pre-season picking on Tuesday May 29th and will continue to pick through June – or as long as the berries last. “It’s a quick season,” continued Jones, “once the berries turn ripe, there’s no stopping them. The season usually lasts up to four weeks.”

One of the biggest challenges of strawberry season is public knowledge of the time frames. “I always feel bad when a guest arrives in our last week of picking saying they didn’t know strawberry season was so early in the summer,” said Keith Padin, Director of Marketing and Hospitality for Jones Family Farms. “We put the word out on our website, Facebook and on the Farmer Jones crop report line, but it’s always what people remember in their heads, from visits in the past, that brings them to the farm at certain times.”

Strawberry Picking: Earlier Each Year

“Years ago, our strawberry season wouldn’t be in full swing until Father’s Day weekend” said Jones. “So, people still have that idea in their head – mid to late June for strawberries. Well, Mother Nature has pushed that time frame up considerably in recent years, and this year it’s especially early. Everything seems to be earlier and earlier every year.”

Residents looking to get their annual strawberry harvest should look for information from their local farmers soon. Before you know it, the season will be over

Jones Family Farms is located in Shelton, Connecticut, off Route 110. For more hours, picking locations, picking tips and other information visitors can call the Farmer Jones crop-info line – (203) 929-8425 or visit the Jones website at JonesFamilyFarms.com, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jonesfamilyfarms, or Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jonesfamilyfarms.

Be Good to the Land and the Land will be Good to You.

Philip James JONES, FARM FOUNDER, 1821-1912