Days draw closer to popular strawberry farm seasonal opening

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Two things are sure signs of spring in our area– seasonal allergies and the opening of the Lewis Nursery and Farm for fresh berry-picking. Now, workers are busy getting ready for their opening day this Friday.

“Last year, we had 95-year-olds out here picking and we had babies that were less than a week old come out,” said Farm Manager Walt Webb.

The farm draws hundreds of families across the Cape Fear to their 7.5 acre strawberry farm each year.

A mild winter has kept the produce on track for the season.

“Blueberries and blackberries actually require an amount of chilling hours so cold nights are good for us up until February 15th, when we typically start seeing blooms,” said Webb. “Anytime after that we’ll run overhead irrigation on the blueberries and we’ll cover the strawberries with row crops to protect them.”

Hurricane Florence damaged farms in our region, but Webb says they have a good and early crop this year. Strawberries are usually ready by early April with blueberries and blackberries available by June.

“Blueberries are a perennial plant,” said Webb. “We leave them in the ground. They are established the first 2 years and we start harvesting typically the third year. We are able to harvest them for 15 to 20 years.”

Webb says opening the farm to the public is a learning opportunity.

“Locality especially of produce is very important and also knowing how it’s produced and the different methods that are used to get that strawberry to the counter or to your table,” said Webb.

The farm also sells homemade ice cream with fruit directly from the field. Opening day for scheduled for Friday at the Ogden location located at 6517 Gordon Road. U-pick-em will begin in early April.