HAMILTON—Ripe, ready-to-pick strawberries are right around the corner—offering ample options for a memorable Mother’s Day.

Statewide strawberry growers are working to open their U-pick fields by May 10, with some early varieties already available for picking.

“It’s like prepping for a big game,” remarked Tyler Wegmeyer of Wegmeyer Farms in Loudoun County. He expects his four locations’ pick-your-own and pre-picked strawberries to be ready in the next three weeks.

Despite a delayed start from an early April cold snap that cut into about 25% of his farms’ open blooms, Wegmeyer is optimistic about the season.

“When it dropped to 22 degrees, it zapped a lot of blooms that would’ve been strawberries in 30 days,” he explained. “We’re still going to have strawberries, but we’re a little bit delayed since we won’t have as many initially.”

Managing losses from weather extremes is something strawberry growers are accustomed to—especially in Northern Virginia, where frosts can occur as late as May 15, according to Wegmeyer.

“Every year, farmers with sensitive crops deal with this issue,” he noted. “We just have to be really vigilant and do what we can to keep our crops safe.”

Farther south in Richmond, some of Steve Gallmeyer’s early-blooming strawberry plants were lightly damaged by the April frost.

“They were coming on a lot faster than normal because we were having a very mild, late winter,” he said. “Now it appears we’ll be opening around the usual time in the first week of May.”

The Gallmeyer Farms pick-your-own berry patch typically opens later than most area farms, as the farm uses a matted-row production system for growing strawberries. This method involves planting strawberries in rows and allowing runners to fill in the spaces to maximize production.

The most-recent Virginia Cooperative Extension survey of strawberry practices in Virginia found that 93% of growers use an annual hill plasticulture system, which offers earlier harvesting. In this system, new plants are planted into raised beds covered with plastic mulch each year.

While Gallmeyer’s heirloom strawberries are smaller than most plasticulture berries, they feature exceptional sweetness.

Wegmeyer’s Chandler and Ruby June strawberries also are softer and sweeter than grocery store varieties, offering a unique tasting experience.

“There’s nothing like picking a fresh strawberry from the field,” he remarked. “People who have never done it before, their eyes are just wide open and they’re flabbergasted with what the taste is like.”

Visitors to the upcoming Wegmeyer Farms Foundation Lincoln Strawberry Festival May 16-18 can pick their own strawberries while supporting the local community. The new event raised almost $25,000 last year for local charities and youth scholarships, and features a variety of family-friendly attractions. Visit wegmeyerfarms.com for more information.

Gallmeyer encourages all berry lovers to treat themselves—and their mothers—to the season’s sweet selection.

“The more the merrier—we’ve got 5 acres of berries and plenty of room,” he said.

To find fresh strawberries near you, visit the Virginia Grown website at vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown.

Media: Contact Wegmeyer at 540-751-1782 or Gallmeyer at 804-795-9979.