Record-shattering heat paves way for early, bumper berry crop
Strawberries and other crops are ripening earlier than ever, thanks to record-breaking hot weather this year.
Farmers are also anticipating a warmer-than-usual summer, giving them a longer growing season.
Bright-red, super-sweet strawberries are kicking off this year’s growing season. Workers have been picking berries for seven days at the family-owned Gobind Farms on Veyaness Road on the Saanich Peninsula.
“They are gorgeous, aren’t they?” Satnam Dheensaw, one of the farm owners, said Monday.
“It’s a bumper crop. The berries are huge, with a wonderful flavour — sweet, juicy.”
High temperatures resulted in the farm’s earliest strawberry harvest ever, said Dheensaw, who expects the strawberry crop to run until late October. Berries are being picked seven to 10 days ahead of last year, which was an early year as well, he said.
“The crop couldn’t be better. All the weather conditions were perfect.”
Gobind sells berries at its farm stand for $6 per pint and delivers to local supermarkets. Rhubarb is also ready and with more berries expected to ripen next month, Dheensaw is already anticipating hiring more pickers.
The 90-acre farm uses a microdrip system, which delivers water close to a plant’s roots.
Terry Michell of Michell Bros. Farm said their strawberry harvest began on Saturday, the earliest ever for the farm.
Strawberry picking on 10 acres started four days earlier than 2015, and “last year was an exceptionally early year,” he said.
Late May is more typical for harvesting the crop. The farm sells from its store at 2451 Island View Rd.
Fancy lettuce will be sold starting today, while early potatoes are already available. Carrots and onions were planted in February, with lettuce, kale and cabbage planted in March.
“It’s the dry, warm weather we’ve had,” Michell said.
The farm started running irrigation on its higher-level land in early April, pulling water from two wells, large irrigation ponds that catch rain during the winter, and municipal services.
The first cut of hay has already come off the Michell Bros. farm. The early season may even allow up to four cuts this year, Michell said. All of it adds up to a longer production year, he said.
High temperatures are due to an El Niño weather pattern. Although El Niños typically peak in January and February, the implications of this one will last well into the spring.
“April has stood out — shattering records for most of B.C.,” said Armel Castellan, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada in Victoria.
Although the El Niño has started to dwindle, its effects are still being felt on the West Coast and in the western Prairies, Castellan said.
This summer will likely be warmer than normal for the western half of B.C., he said.
May 6 saw a record high of 26.4 C in Victoria, trouncing the 25 C record set in 2013, he said. May 13 saw temperatures hit 26.8, beating the 1973 record of 26.7.
For information on farm locations and what’s in season, go to islandfarmfresh.com.