The popular Fife Strawberry Shed has had to delay its opening date due to a prolonged spell of cold weather.
The shed near Newport-on-Tay was hoping to open at the start of this month.
But cold temperatures has seen it had to postpone its opening date by at least 12 days.
It is operated by Keith Adamson and his wife Ailsa, who work West Friarton Farm near Drumoig.
“It’s just been so cold through most of April”, says Keith.
“We have no forced strawberries on the farm. There is no biodigester heated tunnels and they are all natural in polytunnels.
“Normally we would be kicking-off about now and after a couple of half days, be fully open all the way to October.”
“We will just have to grin and bear it. The strawberries are all natural, so we just have to accept the weather when it comes.”
The shed sells soft fruits, vegetables, hot sweet pepper jelly and other goodies.
It attracts many visitors who are passing by on the busy A92 road in its location just off the Forgan Roundabout.
Latest ever harvest start for West Friarton’s strawberries
West Friarton Farm has been growing strawberries for 18 years.
This is the latest they have had to wait to start selling the popular summer fruit.
Much of the UK has experienced a colder and wetter April than usual.
And it has been the colder temperatures during the daytime that have caused the most issues for naturally grown soft fruits.
However, Keith remains positive that the shed will be returning soon.
“We will have it up and running in no time at all”, he says.
“The strawberries will come quite quick when it starts. If we got some really good weather it can actually catch-up in a couple of days.”
“The processes and the plants are ready to go, so it’s just a wee bit annoying that we have to wait so long. It has been a difficult year for weather.
“It’s just been always cold during the day and with the rainfall creating a lot of dark cloud, there hasn’t been as much sunlight.”
Strawberry Shed ‘secret’ a focus on variety
Keith continues: “People are desperate to see a bit of sunshine and strawberries to feel as if they’ve come out of a cold hard winter.”
“We get a lot of repeat customers because our shop is all based on flavour.
“We grow varieties for flavour and not necessarily shelf life. That’s the secret.”
The shed also sells raspberries and blueberries from July onwards and Keith ensures customers are treated to the best varieties.
“I give the customers what I would like to eat and this seems to have worked in the last few years”, he adds.
“We hope to have the shop up and running in a couple of weeks time hopefully.
“Weather can again affect you, so we don’t want to disappoint customers with any exact date.
Again this year the shed will be staffed by Flavia, Oana and Cosmina, who have built up a good repour with returning customers.
It opened on a full-time basis in May 2022 and ordinarily opens from 10am-7pm on a daily basis until October.
Conversation