Berry mixed weather sees sweeter strawberries

Spring's topsy-turvy weather conditions have led to sweeter, juicier strawberries being grown, according to the industry body that represents UK soft fruit growers.

British Berry Growers said although the weather had delayed this year's strawberry season, it had helped produce fruit with "incredible sweetness and size".

Patrick Wilson, 60, owner of Scalby Grange, a pick-your-own farm in Gilberdyke, East Yorkshire, said this year's weather had set him up for a good strawberry season.

He said: "There's some beautiful ones at the moment - lovely, red and sweet."

Wilson, who took over the pick-your-own farm from his late father, said the weather does "put a fair amount of stress" on farmers.

"We can do our best, we can put all our attention into growing them, but the weather decides whether it's a good season or a poor season," he said.

"The start of spring was really cold, frosty mornings, which has delayed the onset of the flowering.

"But then we got the rainfall when we needed it in early May and then we got the heatwave at the end of May, which has really brought the fruit on and ripened it up."

Some parts of the UK had one of the driest Aprils on record before unseasonably low temperatures in May proceeded a record-breaking heatwave.

According to British Berry Growers, the cooler spring delayed growth, allowing berries to build up sweetness and size.

This led to larger, juicier and more flavourful berries, the industry body said.

Paul Clegg, 61, who owns Syston Park Farm in Grantham, Lincolnshire, said the unpredictable weather in recent years had forced him to grow strawberries via a less traditional route, using tabletops.

While tabletop strawberries are a "big investment", he said growing crop this way meant they were less dependent on the weather as they can be irrigated.

Clegg said his soil-grown berries had suffered this year but his tabletop crop were "keeping me going".

He said they were looking "fantastic". He added: "They're growing really, really well and we should get a really good crop out of those, just a bit later in July."

The pick-your-own strawberry season usually starts in between the last week of May and the first week of June.

Wilson said he had high hopes for this season.

"We've got about 30 people in the field now with raincoats on. But they're still turning up," he said.

It is a tradition for some people to turn up on the first day of the season, no matter the weather, Wilson said.

"They've been coming for years and it's nice to see them returning each year."

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