They are already fat, only the red color is still missing: the strawberry harvest is a long time coming in Brandenburg’s fields. The season was supposed to be officially opened on Thursday at the Patke winery in Jacobsdorf, about 15 kilometers west of Frankfurt (Oder). Brandenburg’s State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment, Anja Boudon (non-party), had promised to take over. The Horticultural Association of Berlin-Brandenburg had sent out the invitations. Then suddenly it was said: The opening will be postponed.
As a (fruit) gardener, you depend significantly on the weather, according to the association’s cancellation. “It is currently and in the future too cold and overcast for us to look forward to red strawberries on May 4th. Therefore we have to postpone a season opening date for the first time.” The start should now start in two weeks.
We are at the very beginning.
Frank SaalfeldManaging Director of the Association of East German Asparagus and Soft Fruit Growers
What is the reason for the lack of ripeness of the popular nut fruit? “It was just too cold,” says Frank Saalfeld, Managing Director of the Association of East German Asparagus and Berry Fruit Farmers (Vosba). That applies to the entire region. There are already a few red berries, especially further south. “We are totally at the beginning.”
The start in mid-May is nothing unusual for Saalfeld. “The last two springs have been very warm. Then there were strawberries earlier. Sales stands will therefore remain largely closed for the time being. Some companies have purchased from North Rhine-Westphalia or the Netherlands, which they then offer to customers. If you really want to buy regional berries, you have to wait a few more days.”
Association assumes good harvest
The association assumes that the harvest will be good this year. However, a lot of rain and heat would damage the harvest. According to Vosba, the price is based on the previous year, despite increased energy prices and a higher minimum wage.
300
hectares There are areas under cultivation for strawberries in Brandenburg.
Strawberries were grown on around 850 hectares last year in Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. According to Vosba, the fruit growers were able to harvest around 3,500 tons. According to the Horticultural Association, strawberries are harvested on around 300 hectares in Brandenburg alone. Approximately 53 hectares were grown under polytunnels and in greenhouses in the country in 2022. The area under cultivation fell by around 42 percent compared to the previous year.
The state horticultural association dates the start of harvesting of the outdoor strawberries – i.e. those without a tunnel and greenhouse roof – to around June 10th. In previous years it was already May 25th.
Not only the strawberry comes later this year. Sweet cherries – the association also assumes that the harvest will start at the beginning of June – will be later. Thomas Broecker, Vice President of the State Horticultural Association, says it’s harvest times like in the 80s. “Only in the last few years was it earlier because of the early warmth.” The harvest time this year is therefore “quite normal”.
Experts disagree as to whether frosty nights will also lead to delays in blueberries. Individual farms in Brandenburg suspect a later start. Normally this is at the end of June. Jürgen Jakobs from Beelitzer Spargelhof predicts that the harvest will not begin until the beginning of July. Thomas Bröcker from the association says it is still too early to make any predictions. However, he says that the current cold cannot harm the blueberry. The weather is uncertain.
