Winter Cold, Spring Storms Juice Up Strawberry Supply

(April 7) -- We've all heard the adage "April showers bring May flowers," but here's a new one to sink your teeth into: "January cold in Florida and March storms in California bring April strawberries."

It might not catch on, but the combination of cold winter weather in Florida and spring California storms has allowed the strawberry harvest of the two largest strawberry-growing states to overlap this spring, resulting in an abundance of the fruit. Florida strawberries usually ripen in January and February, preceding the arrival of California strawberries, which typically ripen from March into early April, by at least a month.

Paul Sakuma, AP

Weather conditions in Florida and California have produced an overlapping strawberry harvest -- and cheaper and sweeter fruit.

The Florida cold in January, which was intense and included the coldest 12-day span in South Florida since at least 1940, didn't completely destroy the strawberry crop, as one might have expected. Some plants were destroyed by the freeze, while others were plowed under to make room for other crops that needed to be planted in the same fields. But the remaining crop was simply delayed, pushing the season back into the spring.

Meanwhile, the California strawberry crop was also delayed -- not to the same degree -- by a series of spring storm systems that resulted in wet and chillier than normal weather. The crop, which typically reaches peak production during mid-March, was delayed by a few weeks.

Not only are there more strawberries in the stores than normal now, but the strawberries are sweeter than usual. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said in a March news release, "Strawberries stayed on the plants longer, so they had more time to produce sugar. The result is the sweetest strawberries we've seen in a very long time."

While that statement was directed at Florida berries, which had an extended time on the vine, even the California berries are likely to be at least a little sweeter because of the delay in ripening.

Even with the abundant crop on the market now, the strawberry is a delicate fruit with a short shelf life, so the boon is not destined to last. The good news for strawberry lovers is that while California and Florida have a corner on the market now (estimates are as high as 95 percent for the two states combined), all states produce some strawberries, and soon those harvests will start arriving in local stores and farmers' markets.