After worrisome winter, strawberry crop in bloom

It has been a rocky year for strawberry farmers. Fall brought Hurricane Matthew and flooded fields. Winter was unseasonably warm without much of a freeze. Then when the cold came in March, farmers worried their delicate plants would be damaged before full bloom.

"There's definitely a lot of worry about weather and things like that," said farm manager Charity Moore.

"You gotta do what you gotta do when the weather comes, because there is no stopping what Mother Nature is going to do."

Families flocked to the farm Friday, willing to put those worries aside under sunny skies.

Heather Wiener brought her husband, Dennis, and Avi, age 5, Brooklyn, 3, and Makenna, 1.

"We are definitely going to let the kids work on cleaning them and cutting them, and then we are going to eat them," she said.

Cara Stocklin had plans to prepare strawberry pancakes for 2-year-old Henry.

"There are a lot of strawberries, and they are looking great," she said.

Moore hopes the spring-like weather holds and continues to draw pickers to her fields.

"We just hope the weather stays this nice, spring temperature and doesn't get too hot too soon," she said.