Finland’s strawberry season is off to a good start in southern and central areas this year, due to a recent spell of lovely, warm weather. The Association of Fruit and Berry Growers HML says that even further north, strawberries will start to ripen in the fields over the next week.
The heavy rains in recent days have brought some much-needed moisture to the crops and then the cooler weather has helped with the quality of the fruit. However, the association warns that the very high temperatures in June likely indicates a shorter strawberry season than usual – and urges people to already think about freezing and preserving their strawberries for winter.
“During April and May the temperatures were a little bit cooler and the growing season didn’t advance as fast as it would usually proceed, but during Midsummer and last week the heat and sunny days helped the strawberries ripen nicely to the normal timescale” explains Tomi Pousi from HML.
Strawberries are already available from supermarkets, farms, markets and berry stalls, while self-picking has started and proving to be popular.
Source: newsnowfinland.fi