Strawberries Are Ready to Pick After Late Start
Published: Friday, June 15, 2018
After a late start, strawberry season is finally here. Yoder's U-pick strawberry patch in Goshen opened for the season last Friday.
Due to the late spring and all the rain, the strawberries started growing later than usual. Jessica Graber works at Yoder's and hopes that weather conditions will improve so the berries will grow more quickly.
"So far it's been going pretty well," Graber said. "We came on later than we usually do because of all the rain, so they're coming on slow. We're just hoping for some sunshine to keep them going."
Despite the rainy weather, the strawberry patch has stayed busy since its opening day.
"We've been really, really busy with lots of people even coming to pick in the rain," Graber said.
Yoder's strawberry patch first started with Dale Yoder, Graber's grandfather. Her stepdad now runs the business and the patch has been in the family for about 20 years. Graber said it's a family business and her mom, sisters and brothers will all be out there working throughout the season as well.
Although it is short, Graber enjoys strawberry season while it lasts.
"My favorite part is probably just working with the people and getting to see how much the community really loves it and how they thank us for being here," Graber said. "We're only open about three or four weeks because strawberry season isn't very long. People come back a lot. We'll see them three or four times a season picking hundreds of pounds of berries."
Cindy Hall also works at the strawberry patch and is pleased with the turnout they have had so far.
"It's been a great few days so far," Hall said. "We plan to be going for another couple weeks and we pick every day that the weather allows."
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