Strawberry picking: Crop is ready at a few farms, but most need another week or two of warm weather

It's been a tough couple of months for strawberry growers as they faced erratic temperatures that shifted from the high 70s back in February, teasing out blooms weeks too early, to below freezing temperatures in March that were way too cold for the blooms to survive without help.

"We frost protected a lot," Ogburn said. "Depending on the weather, I might get up and cut the irrigation on at midnight or it might be 5 in the morning or it might be 2. It seemed like this year, it was a lot of all nighters."

Ogburn said his farm stand at 13065 Old Stage Rd., Willow Springs, will have pre-picked berries available for sale starting Saturday. His you-pick fields will open in the next week or two. The stand will stay open through Labor Day with fresh produce and ice cream from Maple View Creamery.

"We're getting mighty close," said Ogburn, a fourth generation farmer. "Hopefully this warm weather will be here to stay."

Ogburn's farm, however, is just one of a handful with berries. Other farms in the region, including Gross Farms and Douglas Strawberry Patch in Sanford, Karefree Produce in Carthage, Smith's Nursery and Produce Farm in Benson, and Gillis Hill Road Produce in Fayetteville all say they have berries available, according to their websites or social media pages.

Others, however, aren't so lucky just yet. Phillips Farm of Cary said on Facebook about a week ago that they might not be ready for another two to three weeks. The voicemail at Hunt's Strawberry Farm in Raleigh said that it might not open until April 24 or so and asked callers to pray for consistent, warm weather.

A late April opening is much later than the 2017 season when farms in this region started selling berries in late March and early April. In 2016, it was closer to mid-April for most.

What farmers need now, as the voicemail at Hunt's indicates, are typical spring temperatures so blooms and berries can bask in the warm sun.

"I would like it to be 75 to 80 with no rain and sunshine every day at least until the strawberries are over," Ogburn said. "... And I'd be glad if it just stayed warm. I'm tired of it going back and forth."