Popular U-pick strawberries survive late frost’s bite

The white Jeep SUV swung around in a U-turn on Trask Parkway on a warm Wednesday afternoon and pulled up to the small stand with baskets of strawberries on the table.

“How’d you do with that last little bit?” the customer asked Urbie West, alluding to the late frost last week that cost the farmer sleep.

“We were very fortunate,” West replied.

The owner of Rest Park Farm, West has been running the self-guided strawberry picking operation for several years. In anticipation of the late freezing temperatures last week, he rolled out a double layer of covering providing about 10 degrees of protection.

Warm temperatures early in the year already had the plants ahead of schedule. Some of the vulnerable blossoms were lost to the cold last week, but the plants all survived and West resumed selling the fruit.

Crops of broccoli, cauliflower and similar vegetables grown during cooler weather suffered some burn, West said. He had just planted squash, but the plants had not emerged from the black plastic covering in time to suffer damage.

The strawberry coverings span six rows and are deployed about a dozen times a year, West said.

On St. Helena Island, Dempsey Farms is also open to customers who want to pick their own strawberries.

“There are strawberries sitting on the stand,” Davis Dempsey said Wednesday morning.

The strawberry fields are relatively new for Rest Park Farm, and West said he learned a lot from Dempsey while getting started. The strawberries will be replaced with pick-your-own tomatoes when the season changes.

Rest Park Farm suffered like many during the heavy rains and flooding in late 2015. In some ways, it is still recovering.

After sending off his customer with fresh strawberries Wednesday, West glances at the tall tree standing watch over the rows of strawberries and remaining collards and kale.

Old-timers say when the leaves of the pecan tree emerge, the threat of frost should be over, West said.

“There are leaves coming, I looked this morning,” West said. “Nine times out of 10, that will be right.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Popular U-pick strawberries survive late frost’s bite."