MARBLE FALLS, Texas — Strawberry season is in full swing across Texas, but a chance of snow has one strawberry farmer on edge in the Hill Country.
It is the 22nd season for strawberry picking at Sweet Berry Farms, but Mother Nature hasn't been cooperating this year.
"It's a rollercoaster every year,” said Dan Copeland, Sweet Berry Farms' owner.
Copeland said strawberry picking started earlier than usual because of this year's mild January. However, Copeland said that even though the strawberries and other plants have started blooming the colder temperatures are not quite done.
"The pecan trees are the last ones to put out. They're starting to put out now,” Copeland said. “So, you know, nature is telling us that freezes are done, but they're not.”
With a colder March, Copeland is keeping a close eye on the berries.
"It takes 30 days from bloom to fruit on strawberries,” Copeland said. “So, when they have this, what we call a little warm spell in the first part of January, they say, ‘Hey, let's bloom.’ So they bloom, and we try to protect those blooms from freezing, and then we start picking."
And Copeland has a plan if those freezing temperatures do hit.
"We have blankets that we cover up, we have eight acres of strawberries here,” Copeland said. “We do about 140,000 plants. And when it's going to freeze, and we have blooms on the plants will cover everything up.”
But the cold temperatures and mud did not stop families from showing up to go berry picking.
Sweet Berry Farms said strawberry picking could go on until mid-May if the weather is right.