Strawberry fields forever? Maybe not. But strawberry research, including how to extend their harvest, will be shared with the public at the Strawberry Field Day to be held March 5 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco, according to organizers.
Dr. Juan Anciso, a fruit and vegetable specialist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, will host a Strawberry Field Day March 5 at the center. The center is located at 2415 E. Highway 83 in Weslaco.
The field day begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 11:30 a.m. It is free and open to the public, and of special interest to home gardeners, farmers market growers and commercial growers, according to Dr. Juan Anciso, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service fruit and vegetable specialist in Weslaco.
“We’ve learned a lot since we planted our first strawberry fields that were harvested last year,” he said. “Among other things, we’ve determined that using black plastic to cover the soil around the plants for weed control is probably too hot for them. So this year we’re also testing other colors. And without having crunched the numbers yet, silver appears to be the best candidate. A more suitable plastic could help extend the harvest into April.”
Anciso has been growing strawberries as part of a grant from the National Strawberry Sustainability Initiative, funded by the Walmart Foundation and administered by the University of Arkansas Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability.
Anciso is part of the Texas Strawberry Project Team, whose goal is to make strawberries a mainstream Texas-produced delicacy Three strawberry varieties are being evaluated this year versus eight last year, Anciso said.
“Of the eight varieties we planted last year, we were hoping to select the top three performers for testing this year, but those varieties were not readily available,” he said. “So we went with the top three performers that were readily available.”
Strawberry fields are planted as small transplants purchased in the Kentucky and Tennessee areas, not in Texas, he said.
“The objective is to find varieties that are readily available and perform well in our South Texas environment,” Anciso said.
Barbara Storz, a horticulturist in Edinburg recently retired from AgriLife Extension, said Anciso’s efforts and the strawberry field days are helping reestablish strawberries in the area.
“Strawberry production pretty much disappeared from the Valley some 15 years ago when a ‘pick your own’ strawberry patch in San Juan was replaced by the construction of a big box store on that property,” she said. “So now, most of the commercial production in the U.S. is from California, with a large amount of strawberries coming from Mexico. And they just don’t have the flavor I remember from my childhood.”
Now, however, thanks to the strawberry studies, several growers are planting local strawberries for sale. Among them are a producer in San Isidro and SouthTex Organics in Mission, Storz said.
Both provide strawberries for sale at the Grow’n Growers Farmers Market at Firemen’s Park in McAllen, which is open from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday, year-round.
The field day will begin in the center’s auditorium with an update on strawberry research, followed by a tour of Anciso’s research field plots that include growing strawberries under a high tunnel.
“We had a large turnout at last year’s strawberry field day and are expecting the same this year. There is a lot of interest in growing fresh, local strawberries for both commercial and personal consumption,” he said.
For more information
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center
Dr. Juan Anciso,
T: +1 956-968-5581