Strawberries have weathered COVID-19 and a cool spring to arrive with summer

COVID-19 has shut down many summer traditions in Thurston County, but one tradition remains untouched: strawberry season.

All Spooners Berry Farm berry stands have opened up for the summer season, selling their fresh picked strawberries. Be sure to come early, as they usually sell out by 2 p.m., owner Sue Spooner said.

Johnson Berry Farm also has opened its stand at 2908 Wiggins Road SE., where they sell their fresh picked strawberries. They also sell at the Olympia Farmers Market.

Spooner said the wet and cold weather this spring led to a later-than-usual ripening of the strawberries, “but the berries are beautiful!”

Jim Johnson, owner of Johnson Berry Farm, said that while the season got off to a wet start, “there’s a lot of warm weather coming that’s going to make the berries grow a lot faster and make them much sweeter.”

Spooner said there’s a chance the season will be shorter this year because of the cool, wet spring, but she’s hopeful brighter, warmer days now will allow more berries to grow.

“Our pickers come out at 5 o’clock every morning, and everything we pick that day goes straight from the farm to the berry stands,” said Spooner. Stands on Yelm Highway, Harrison Avenue, and Ralph’s Thriftway as well as their locations in Seattle, Aberdeen and Shelton are open from 9:30 a.m. until they sell out.

In past years, Spooners offered a U-Pick service where customers could pick their own berries in the field, but due to COVID-19, U-Pick will not happen this year, Spooner said.

COVID-19 has not deterred customers from coming to the stands, though, Spooner said. “I think it gives them something to do. They can (get berries and) go home and make jam.”

“I thought at the beginning of the season, when it started, this is going to be great, because this will be one normal thing people can still look forward to for the summer, because so many things have changed. This is one normalcy they can still have,” Spooner said.

Lisa Chapman said she is happy to see one Olympia summer tradition unaffected by COVID-19. “I love their berries and I look forward to them every year,” she said.

Margaret Hutchinson had invited friends over for waffles Wednesday morning when she decided to head down Yelm Highway to the stand and get some fresh berries as an accoutrement for the morning’s meal. “There’s nothing like a fresh strawberry,” she said. “And raspberries are next!”

Spooners will begin raspberry season in July and will round out the summer with blueberry season in August.