Recent rain in the Okanagan has dampened what started out to be a bumper strawberry crop across the province.
Some farmers have complained that downpours have washed out much of their crops – but it depends on where they are and what soil they have, explained Okanagan Asparagus Farm co-owner Jackie Jeppesen.
Jeppesen farms four-and-a-half acres of strawberries and enjoyed early season sun that helped her pick berries more than a week earlier than last year.
Recent rain, however, has kept customers away.
“We have a sandier soil so the rain doesn’t affect us as much,” she said.
“Last year we had rain for the first week-and-a-half, then it was hot and dry. This year, it’s the opposite.”
Metro Vancouver farmers told BIV earlier this month that they were expecting a month-long strawberry growing season ending in the first week of July.
Last year’s truncated season was little more than two weeks.
