Why strawberry season is coming to an early end in Northern Virginia
BEALETON, Va. (DC News Now) — It's a springtime favorite: picking sweet strawberries at area farms. But this season is over almost before it even started.
In Fauquier County at Messick's Farm Market, owner Jimmy Messick said this strawberry season was not one to remember.
'Out of the 12 or 13 years that we've been growing, this is the worst year of growing that I have experienced,' he told DC News Now.
Messick said in a normal season, each plant produces about one pound of strawberries. This year, it's about 20% of that.
LOOK: Caps off to the 2025 grads! Check out our viewers' proud accomplishments
He attributes it primarily to a fungal disease called Neopestalotiopsis, or Neo-P. That, combined with a warmer and wetter month of May, has cut strawberry picking season short. In certain years, it can last until late June or the first week of July. This year, it ended in mid-May.
'The brown splotches are starting to invade into the leaf,' Messick said, identifying the fungus. 'Pretty soon it kills the leaf and eventually the plant.'
Messick said his plan for the future is to try new varieties of strawberries in September for the fall season, hoping some of them are less susceptible to Neo-P.
'Anything that's good and sweet and fruity, you're going to have pests that want to eat it as well,' he said. 'But this new [disease] is something that we haven't learned to cope with yet.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Torin Montgomery plays hero role with walkoff hit in Sioux City's 10-9 win against Cleburne in 11 innings
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – The Sioux City Explorers rallied from a 9-7 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extras, and Torin Montgomery's base hit gave Sioux City the 10-9 victory against the Railroaders in 11 innings. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Incognito police vehicles begin catching law violators in Northern California
( — The California Highway Patrol unveiled specially marked patrol vehicles this month to help them operate more discreetly when catching people who break the law. So far, it seems to be working. CHP in the Yuba-Sutter area said it was issued a new incognito vehicle on Wednesday. Almost immediately, it caught a Lexus driving at a dangerous speed on the freeway. CHP unveils new fleet of bold colored vehicles 'We made it exactly two miles from Fleet Operations in West Sacramento when we had the Lexus cruise by us at 97 miles per hour in the carpool lane,' CHP said. 'Our officer had an electronic ticket device, which made quick work of issuing an out-of-area citation to the driver.' CHP said the citing was the purpose of the new vehicles. 'He didn't see us when he passed us. This is what these SMPV's are designed to do – To stop the egregious offenders.' CHP added, 'Pre-answering the question on how to avoid being stopped by this SMPV? Simply obey the rules of the road and you will never see it.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Philip boys, Ipswich girls lead class ‘B' track
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Philip boys and Ipswich girls find themselves atop the team leaderboards after day two of the State Track and Field Meet. You can view some of the team scores below and see full results here. CLASS 'B' BOYS SCOREBOARD CLASS 'B' GIRLS SCOREBOARD Day three of the state meet continues Saturday morning with the final day of events. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
