Strawberries are in full bloom across the province and local berry farmers are anticipating another busy season as residents come to pick their own fruit.
“This will be our 50th year of picking, we started in 1971 in Brampton," said Lindsay Oldham, the owner of Butt’s Berry & Flower Farm, located on the fifth line in Guelph-Eramosa township just east of Guelph.
Butt's has eight acres of strawberry.
With plans to open for u-pick starting Saturday, Oldham said they will be operating with the same COVID-19 safety protocols as last year.
"It worked last year and it worked fine, everyone stayed apart," he said.
All of the safety protocols for Butt’s Berry & Flower Farm can be found on their Instagram.
Strawberry picking has become a popular activity during the pandemic after it was deemed an essential service in May 2020.
Despite concerns last year about whether they would be able to operate, Oldham mentions he is glad they weren’t shut down.
“People have nothing to do, so when they do get to go to a pick-your-own farm, it's something for them to do,” he said. "We have to have food."
Nora Marcy of Marcy’s Berries in Puslinch said they noticed a huge increase in people coming to pick strawberries last year, especially families.
“Last year, you couldn’t have found a strawberry if you tried at the end of the season,” she said about their fields in 2020.
"Right to the last afternoon people were still coming out."
Marcy adds they had to change their protocols to enforce safety guidelines, including charging by the basket instead of weighing them, and using more single-use items.
This year Marcy anticipates another good turnout, especially since they opened on the weekend of June 14, a few days earlier than normal.
“They surprised us,” she said about the strawberries, “We thought, ‘Okay, Saturday we’re in business.’”
Many people who have come to pick strawberries have been respectful of others, adds Marcy.
"We didn't know what would happen... but they kept their distance and didn't crowd," she said.
"They're peaceful, I don't hear any bickering."
Normally, there are three to four good weeks for picking strawberries, but Marcy advises that people call ahead to learn if their supply of berries is still good.
“It fluctuates from year to year,” she said.
Marcy and her husband Keith planted their first acre of strawberries in 1991, and their first harvest was in 1992. Today, they sell 10 different types of strawberries.
“It just kept going... we're probably about eight and a half acres now," she said, "Two years later, we planted raspberries and a few years after that we added more raspberries and currants and gooseberries. We just kept expanding."
Marcy's Berries also sells blueberries, blackberries, haskaps, sweet corn and honey. More information on Marcy's Berries can be found here.