MONETA, Va. – Strawberries are in full season in many parts of the commonwealth and the outlook for farmers is expected to be positive.
The few strawberry growers in the area say they're ready for customers to come and pick the crop while they can.
Scott's Strawberry Farm on Monday said it is preparing for one of its biggest strawberry-filled weekends. The farm is expecting a decent amount of fresh strawberries for people to pick during the brief season.
The farm just opened its doors to the public last Thursday and already people are stopping to pick up cases strawberries and going row by row, filling up their buckets. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says this will be a strong season for growers.
"I hope they're right. So far, it's looking really good. Our berries even from last year or last year's plants have beautiful big berries on them. So they're looking really good," said Franziska Saunders.
Some of the workers at the farm have seen a change this year in the way the plants look.
"Usually, the vines are just loaded, but this year they're not quite as pretty as usual. But the people have been pleased with what they get and they were thankful for what they can get," said Joyce Mitchell.
Although it's still the beginning of their five-week strawberry season, the farm is hoping to make enough profit on the pick-your-own crop to get it through the year.
"Where it's been kind of cool lately. They haven't had the proper timing to ripen properly, so some of them still have a little tinge of white on them. But white will ripen; green won't. But give it another couple of days where it's warmer and berries will ripen up just beautifully," said Saunders.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture shows a total of 263 strawberry growers in Virginia.
Friday will be the start of a big weekend for the farm. It will be hosting its annual three-day strawberry festival.
The farm is glad to be keeping the tradition alive after its owner, J.D. Scott, passed away two years ago from cancer.
"It's hard. We lost two of our members now. We lost J.D. two years ago. We lost Coco, who was our main head guy after J.D. He passed away in October so it's pretty rough here, so we're kind of looking forward to the festival. So, hopefully, it can bring things back together to normal a little bit," said Saunders.