DUMMERSTON — A cold and wet April and May turned out to be the best thing that could happen to Windham County's strawberry crop.
Jack Manix of Walker Farm in Dummerston said he has had one of his best strawberry seasons in memory.
“The cold nights and the rain came before the plants got ripe,” Manix said. “All those 45-degree nights in May kept them [from] ripening too fast.”
Timing of the warmth and rain that makes strawberries red and ripe can be tricky. Manix said that with the abnormally early warm weather last year, followed by too much rain, some of his crop rotted in the field before it got ripe enough to harvest.
Mid-June is usually the peak of the early strawberry season in Windham County. Walker Farm grows two mid-season varieties of certified organic strawberries: Cavendish, a variety developed in Nova Scotia, and Jewel, a variety developed by Cornell University.
According to Vern Grubinger, a vegetable and berry specialist with the University of Vermont Extension, Cavendish “is a high-yielding, high-quality berry in a good year. However, high temperatures during ripening can cause uneven ripening that can be a real problem.”
Jewels, Grubinger said, produce “high-quality berries that are large and attractive with good flavor, but yields are moderate.”
At Walker Farm, yields of both varieties have been quite high.
Farmworker Bob Csehak Jr. said 240 quarts of strawberries were picked last Saturday, with 242 picked on Sunday. On weekends, the farmstand usually sells out by early afternoon.
On Sunday, the farm set aside some berries for its first-ever strawberry festival, a benefit for Brattleboro Area Hospice. A steady stream of strawberry lovers of all ages came into the Grand Central display greenhouse for bowls of strawberry shortcake topped with fresh whipped cream.
Manix said most years he usually sells out of strawberries by the end of June. This year, he may have enough to make it to the Fourth of July.
Other area farms with late-season varieties, such as Dutton Farm in Newfane, extend the joy of strawberries and whipped cream deeper into the summer.