Some of the last strawberries of the season in a field at Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon. Photo: Courtesy Ward's Berry Farm
SHARON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) —Strawberry season is fleeting in Massachusetts. The berries get ripe in early June and they’re gone by July. Once the sticky heat of mid-summer arrives on our doorstep, they melt in the field like a popsicle in the sun.
By late June, Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon was down to the final fruits of the season, so the word from owner Jim Ward was simple: act quick, before they’re gone. By the end of the week, it will all be over.
Berry-picking is a family staple at the farm, which is running a seven-acre strawberry operation this year. A short hayride (or a leisurely dirt-road stroll) leads hungry customers to rows upon rows of the fragrant, red little gems hiding under squat, glossy leaves.
Ward’s has been offering pick-your-own strawberries since 1982.
“We saw quite a bit of demand when we started 40 years ago, and we quickly understood that it’s a place that families like to come,” Ward said. “If we can create a fond memory for a kid, we might have someone like you!” he said. (I told Ward I had been coming to his farm since I was four.)
The rush to get the last strawberries of the season begs a question: why is the season so short?
Jim Ward says his farm and the vast majority of other growers in New England grow June-bearing strawberries, which send out one bunch of fruits only in June. The other kind of strawberries, day-neutral strawberries, have fruit all summer long and are the ones grown in California. Those kind are more sensitive to temperature swings, which means efforts to grow them here in New England have been generally unsuccessful.
The little red berries are an important part of a multimillion dollar agritourism industry in Massachusetts, which has exploded in recent years. U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers said 240 farms in Massachusetts did some kind of agritourism in 2017, for a total revenue of about $13 million. Ward reckons that number sounds a little low.
“Just [apples] would blow that number out of the water,” he said.
But if the figures are anything to go by, the industry is burgeoning. It more than doubled in Massachusetts since 2007.
Next up for pick-your-own at Ward’s Berry Farm are raspberries and blueberries in July. Jim Ward, for one, is looking forward to it.
WBZ's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) has more:
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