Green Strawberries

The strawberries are beginning to ripen - finally! Strawberries need lots of sun for the ripening process. They also need warm days and nights. This spring has been a combination of cold weather with cloudy days. We figure we are almost two weeks behind our usual time for picking strawberries. Here's today's picture of the patch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the tip of the strawberry starting to turn pink.

In other good news, the tomatoes are starting to blossom in the greenhouse. We have the sides of the greenhouse rolled up so the bees can get inside to help pollinate the tomatoes. You can see the edges of the greenhouse are wet. We had storms again last night.

The sticks are put next to the tomatoes to keep them from falling. The strings also help the plant to grow upright.

Waiting for the Berries

Now it's May 15 and we are waiting for the berries! The entire spring has been wet and cold. This last week, we did get some heat during the day which is helping to bring the strawberries. We figure we are at least one week, maybe 10 days, behind where usually are with strawberries.

When will we have berries? Only Mother Nature knows that. This week there are some cold nights forecasted, so we'll be pulling out the covers. The rain is supposed to stop and possibly some warm weather near the end of the week.

We have small, green berries. We just need warm weather to grow them bigger and closer to ripeness. We'll let everyone know when they are ready to pick!

Cold Weather for Strawberries

Here's a post I actually wrote last weekend, but my internet wasn't working, so I couldn't post it until today.
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We have blooms on our strawberries! However, this past week we had some cold weather which makes any fruit grower nervous. The temperature was forecasted in the mid-30s at night. If the temperature dips to 32 degrees F., the strawberry blooms will be killed.
 A strawberry bloom has a yellow center with white petals. If the bloom is frosted, the sunny yellow center turns black. When I walk through the fields and see a black center it really makes me sick to my stomach. That's a bloom that won't become a strawberry.

We protect our strawberries when the temperature gets low by covering them. But, that's a lot of work! Wednesday night the kids missed their 4-H meeting because we were busy putting the covers on the strawberries. Four hours later, we finally had them all covered.

With the blooms, we know we'll have strawberries in about two weeks. I'm always nervous right now, hoping for a good crop. But it's also exciting to know that we'll be tasting those berries soon!

Delicate strawberry bloom (picture taken by my son)

A strawberry forming from the center of the bloom into a strawberry