As summer warms up, many strawberry patches are ripening across the state. In New England, strawberry season typically runs between mid-June and mid-July, but the exact window each year can vary depending on weather.
Patty Jared, who works at Lavoies Farm in Hollis, said the conditions this spring were excellent for their crop. They opened their pick-your-own patch on June 9, which she said was early compared to other farms or years.
“But because we had that heat last week, they're estimating that it'll be a little bit earlier closing time than they were anticipating,” she said, guessing they may be done harvesting in another week or 10 days.
But conditions vary from farm to farm across the state. Spring Ledge farm in New London is still waiting for their berries to ripen.
“It was a sort of a cooler spring generally,” said Nick Latorre at Spring Ledge. “Some things are a little bit behind versus prior years.”
He said the farm hopes to open their fields in about a week and stay open through July.
Much of the state is still in a droughtt that started or experiencing abnormally dry conditions, but the growers who spoke with NHPR said their crops have avoided any adverse effects so far.
In recent years, extreme weather like flooding, drastic temperature swings and high heat has wiped out some harvests across the state.
