Strawberry fields' poor weather: cold temperatures hurt province's U-picks
The unusually cool weather in Newfoundland is causing headaches for owners of strawberry farms on the island.
With July bringing temperatures that have been at times in the the single digits, farms on both sides of island are feeling the lack of heat.
Chris Lester of Lester's Farm in St. John's was earlier this week putting blankets over strawberry and carrot crops to try and increase the amount of heat, and ultimately make the crops ripen faster.
"Desperate times, desperate measures," Lester told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.
"We usually use this in May and early June. This is the first time ever we've put row covers back out in the fields in July, to try and garner a little bit more heat."
Lester said the farm has been getting bombarded with calls over the last week from people anxious to get out in the fields to pick some summer strawberries.
He thinks the weather has caused strawberry crops to be a couple of weeks behind this year. He's hopeful the season can still be salvaged before the fall.
"We are one or two real hot days away from starting picking," he said.
"We're kind of hoping for a nice August."
Temperatures this month have been considerably lower than normal, making for the coldest July in more than 20 years.
Same story in western, central Newfoundland
The cool weather is also causing difficulties for strawberry farms in other areas of the province.
In western Newfoundland, The Wright's Family Farm U-pick in Pasadena opened two weeks ago, and people have been flocking to the farm despite the fact that the strawberries are about a week behind.
Andy and Sharon Wright bought the farm last summer and the cool weather has been compounded by the fact that they are still getting used to running the farm.
"The farm ran us last year, and this year we're trying to run the farm," Andy Wright said.
"Again, Mother Nature is having a say in that. "
The couple said they were able to turn a profit in their first year and are trying to stay optimistic for this year despite the less than ideal weather conditions.
"The last year has been brutal," Wright said. "The first year in farming is really, really hard. I thought I worked hard last year. I worked harder this year, but a little smarter as well."
In central Newfoundland, the Campbellton berry farm and U-pick hasn't been having trouble growing good ripe strawberries — it's just having difficulty getting customers to come out in the dreary cool weather.
"There's lots of good strawberries we've got here," owner Phillip Thornley said.
"We're a few weeks late but the cool weather actually helps to keep them."
He said the strawberry crop is about 15 days behind where it has been in previous years, but things could still be worse.
"It's not the worse by a long shot," he said, recalling a summer in the 1980s where temperatures were around 5 C.