Scores of Vancouver Farmers Market patrons made off with whole or half-flats of strawberries over the weekend, seemingly to get their fix after a late start to the season, said Isamar Zurita.
“Since it’s been late, a lot of people just want to take them home,” Zurita said.
For most growers in the Northwest, the strawberry crop arrived late this year, thanks to the lingering rain and cold that hung over the region into early spring.
“I think that just goes for every farmer, because of the weather,” he said. “We really, really needed the sun this year.”
Zurita manned a booth at the farmers market Sunday for Crawford’s Nursery and Produce, of Cornelius, Oregon. The weather has turned around, but the late sunshine has meant there are fewer berries growing, a reduced stock and a different flavor.
“The sun really helps with the sugars,” he said. “Without the sun, the flavor just isn’t that same.”
Late winter and early spring’s rainfall amounts set records all around the Northwest, and only a handful of sunny days before the past few weeks of warm weather.
Contrast that with last year, when spring was so warm parts of the Northwest started the summer in near drought conditions.
Nai Saetern helps out with his parents’ farm in Albany, Oregon, K Family Farm, and said his parents can usually open up a strawberry stand three or four weeks earlier than they did this year.
They usually grow Hood, Chandler, Albion and Seascape varieties.
“We’ve had worse years than this, actually,” he said, adding that the lack of sunshine through April has been hard for growing.
Some Clark County farms have seen the same late start.
Bi-Zi Farms said it’s likely it won’t have strawberries ready for sale until later this week. Joe’s Place Farms has some strawberries in, but its u-pick fields aren’t ready.
On Sunday, about half of Saetern’s patrons were buying large boxes of strawberries, he said, some to make jam. Others were picking up small boxes to munch on at the market.
Bonnie Huber and Jeremy Huber’s kids, Daphne and Devon, couldn’t get their box of strawberries to last more than a lap around the market before they all had to swing back to Saetern’s stand for more.
“I got one,” Jeremy Huber said.
However, now that conditions are warming up, Saetern said he hopes the farm can get a more consistent supply of berries going for their stand and to market.
“Our berries are just really weather-dependent,” he said.”I don’t know if I’m coming back (to the market) next week until a few days before.”
