Photo Credit: Pixabay/Old Farmer’s Almanac

Now that summer is almost underway, that also means strawberries are nearly ripe for the plucking!

In Suamico, Wisconsin, strawberry season is about to take off. Berries that have been planted earlier this year haven’t quite come into full fruition yet, but there are still a number of different varieties that are prevalent.

Chris Blaser, owner of Blaser’s Acres, talked about the later varieties he’s planted: “This is is a later variety, such as Jewel. They’re coming in later, they’re heavy producers, they’re big berries. They’re very nice.”

And if you’re really particular about what type of berries you want to pop in your mouth, many fields offer different varieties you can choose from.

Blaser explained that one variety of strawberries grows big and green: “When they grow wide like this, they get really nice and big. At the end of the blossom, it’s a berry just starting. And then there’s the blossoms – it’s always three weeks from blossom to red berry.”

While time is a factor in producing ripe, tasty berries, another factor is the weather.

“You need about an inch of rain a week, which we’ve more than got,” said Blaser. “Then you want to get around 80 degrees and that’ll ripen them up and make them grow at a good pace.”

And while Blaser waits for the weather to heat up, he says he is looking forward to seeing strawberry-pickers make their rounds to his fields.

“We’re very excited to see everyone. Everyone is excited to come,” said Blaser.

It takes a bit of time for the fields to produce strawberry perfection, so next week is when they should be completely ripened and perfect. There’s many fields you can go strawberry picking in, but if you don’t have the time, you can expect to see those big berries appearing at your local farmer’s market.