Farmers wait for record late strawberry crop
CARNATION - Farmer Gary Remlinger sees green on his 350-acre farm in a month where he should see nothing but red. Strawberries at Carnation’s Remlinger farms are small, unripe, and in some cases, still waiting to bear fruit.
“I’ve been raising strawberries for 40 years and never seen a season this late,” Remlinger said.
Memorial Day weekend typically kicks off the start of strawberry season but unusually cold temperatures and rain have pushed the schedule back and put local farmers in a hole.
Remlinger says he expected his plants to bear fruit by early June after they blossomed in mid-May. A cold snap and rain changed those plans.
“You’re kind of farming in between showers. It’s really hard,” he said.
Remlinger’s wife Bonnie delayed the farm’s annual strawberry festival by a few weeks. In early June, she decided she had waited enough. The festival opened this weekend with the usual rides for kids, and strawberry shortcakes, made with frozen strawberries.
“We called our friends, neighbors, farmers in Oregon and Washington to see if they had berries available that we could buy from them to have for our strawberry festival and nobody was picking,” she said.
Gary Remlinger is optimistic that Mother Nature will turn his way and save the strawberry season. With a few consecutive days of sun and warm temperatures he says his crop will be ready by next weekend, though the season will be a few weeks shorter.
“I’ve been raising strawberries for 40 years and never seen a season this late,” Remlinger said.
Memorial Day weekend typically kicks off the start of strawberry season but unusually cold temperatures and rain have pushed the schedule back and put local farmers in a hole.
Remlinger says he expected his plants to bear fruit by early June after they blossomed in mid-May. A cold snap and rain changed those plans.
“You’re kind of farming in between showers. It’s really hard,” he said.
Remlinger’s wife Bonnie delayed the farm’s annual strawberry festival by a few weeks. In early June, she decided she had waited enough. The festival opened this weekend with the usual rides for kids, and strawberry shortcakes, made with frozen strawberries.
“We called our friends, neighbors, farmers in Oregon and Washington to see if they had berries available that we could buy from them to have for our strawberry festival and nobody was picking,” she said.
Gary Remlinger is optimistic that Mother Nature will turn his way and save the strawberry season. With a few consecutive days of sun and warm temperatures he says his crop will be ready by next weekend, though the season will be a few weeks shorter.