After a slow start, the crop flourished, making a remarkable comeback despite a bit of a setback when hit by two cold, wet nights in May. "Once the warm weather arrived, the strawberries seemed to catch up," Keith Marcy said Monday.

The Valens area farmer expects the last of his six-acre crop will be picked this coming weekend. But there won't be much time to dally as the first baskets of the raspberry crop will also appear this weekend at the Marcys' Berries fruit stand at the corner of Regional Road 97 and Valens Road. Black currants and gooseberries will be featured as well, along with red and black raspberries, the latter variety reminiscent of the wild black caps that many people who grew up in the 1950s fondly recall.

Marcy and his wife, Nora, have been growing berries on their farm for the past 17 years. They've built up a regular and faithful clientele, causing them to expand their strawberry production from 4-1/2 acres to six this summer. "We got a real good yield, particularly with the later varieties" of strawberries, Marcy reported.

The season at the Marcy farm was actually a little longer this year, with the first berries ripening a little over a month ago.

Marcy described his raspberry crop as "average or above average" with the berries being plump and firm thanks to a combination of rain and wind in recent weeks. After the raspberry season closes in late July or early August, the sweet corn will replace berries on the produce stand.

The different seasons of fruits and vegetables keep the Marcy family occupied throughout the summer and offer fresh products to local consumers all summer long.

At the Frootogo Orchards on Parkside Drive, Bert and Willy Hekman experienced "a tough season" with their 3-1/2-acre strawberry crop. Hekman said he had "three or four sleepless nights" in the spring while he irrigated the plants to protect them from frost. Water is sprayed continually on the strawberries even after a protective layer of ice forms on them. When temperatures start to rise after dawn, the ice melts and the berries re-emerge, plump and preserved.

While the crop was good when it finally reached its peak, the cold, wet spring weather had an impact. "We had a short season, about three weeks," Hekman said. He and his wife were pleased with the number of local residents who came out to their farm. "We noticed people are really into local produce buying from local farms," Hekman said.

Apple season at Frootogo starts in late August.