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Once June arrives, we check the strawberry fields daily to see
how the fruit is ripening. Although we are busy with other tasks,
it's a waiting game since we know that any day we will suddenly
have to drop everything because the berry season is here.
Throughout June, we regularly receive phone calls from eager
berry lovers. We answer the question about when the season will
begin many, many times, giving a rough estimate, but explaining
that there really isn't any way to predict it within a few days.
As children, we anxiously anticipated the day when my father
would barge into the house, announcing, "We're opening
tomorrow! Those berries have got to be picked!"
Typically, our strawberry season begins around the third week
of June, but cool weather could result in a slower and later
start. Alternatively, after several days of sunshine, we could
be surprised when we check the fields. It doesn't take long
for the small, green berries to turn bright red.
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| Anxious
berry pickers work at filling their baskets. |
When strawberry season finally arrives, the farm becomes a well-oiled
machine of organized chaos. From dawn to dusk, daily tasks include
deciding which field to open for picking, which depends on the
amount of ripe berries and the last time it was picked. We have
to organize our strawberry pickers and schedule our customer-service
staff. Advertising is carefully planned, as we don't want to
promote berries too early in the season and disappoint customers.
And we need to run the rest of the farm as well—from feeding
the farm animals to mowing acres of parking lots. There are
never enough hours in the day to finish what needs to get done
on a farm.
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