May’s frost, June’s drought damages strawberry production at local farm.
GALESBURG, Mich. — When Ben Martin and his team started to pick strawberries Monday morning from his farm it became a more tedious task than expected.
So they quickly stopped and “threw in the towel.” “Everybody’s looking at me like ‘Hey, it’s not even worth being out here,’" said Martin about the conversation they had on the field.
However by the end of the month, they only had enough for 400.
He said they came in too small in size and it all began with the frost in May.
“And what most people don’t know is that the flower blossoms are what turns into the fruit.
There was little rainfall and strawberries need 2-3 inches of rain a week in order to fully blossom.
“It doesn’t help knowing it keeps it dry,” said Martin about the near-drought conditions.
Last year’s strawberry season was a blockbuster.
“We have an annual event which was held the 17th of June [to] get a lot of people out to the farm for our ice cream social,” said Martin.