CABOT, Ark. — One Arkansas strawberry farmer is expecting a shorter picking season than usual.
At Holland Bottom Farm in Cabot, strawberries are just beginning to ripen.
"We got plenty of berries coming on but it’s just taking forever it feels like,” Leslie Odom said.
Owner Leslie Odom said in previous years the berries were ready by now, but she said cooler weather slowed down the growing process.
"We planted in the fall around October 15. They're all hand planted. We get the plants in and we're all out here dropping plants and planting them,” Leslie said.
Tim Odom says Tuesday's warm weather is ideal.
"The 60s that we're going to have, it's going to start slowing the riping down,” he said.
But the Odoms do not expect for the berries to be done until at least April 20.
"Usually it's around the fiftieth of April…it can be the seventh. In three different years, we've picked in March. That's not normal,” Tim said.
Tim predicts it will be a shorter picking season this year, too. He said once the weather starts getting hot, picking season comes to an end.
"We will probably pick six weeks this year. We can pick up to 8 weeks if we're picking early but this is not really an early year for us,” Tim said.
But Leslie said that's not necessarily a bad thing. She thinks this year's strawberries will be some of the best tasting.
"Seems like the longer it takes for us to get there the sweeter they are. It may be short and sweet but they're going to be great,” Leslie said.
The Odom’s said to stay tuned to their Facebook page to know when the farm officially opens for picking.