With plenty of sunshine last week, the new strawberry season from unlit cultivation is slowly but surely approaching. The same goes for Kwekerij Demedts - De Mey, where they expect to offer the first strawberries by the end of next week. "We expect the first coloring by the end of next week. We planted them in mid-January, so by the end of March we'll be in full production. People are already looking forward to it," says Benoit Demedts of the Gits-based nursery in Flanders.
"It's looking promising," he continues. "The spring weather we've had since February, with lots of sunshine, has been ideal for the flowers, so everything is looking good. There's also already a lot of demand, as we've noticed in our farm shop. Moreover, the trade sector has inquired several times about when we'll have our own production again. For now, we're still sourcing from a fellow grower with exposed cultivation. That's also good quality and sells well, but it's always nice when you can offer your own volumes again and people start asking for them. Especially on sunny days like yesterday—then people are looking for an ice cream and a strawberry."
Larger volumes are therefore eagerly awaited. "Indeed, at the moment they're still a bit more expensive, as the volumes from exposed cultivation are somewhat limited. Still, they're selling well. For us, the price could be a bit lower since we're still buying them, but people are willing to pay it." Will the price drop once the unexposed volumes come in? "That remains to be seen. If we look at last year, when many growers started with ever-bearers, we see that production periods are no longer simultaneous. It's a different way of growing, and last year was still a bit of a learning curve. We also saw that reflected in the pricing, and I expect it will be no different this year."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Benoit explains. "It's become increasingly expensive to grow crops. Raw material costs are rising, so it's good to see that reflected somewhat in the selling price."
For the grower himself, the high season begins in just a few weeks. "So by the end of March, we'll be in full production, with our peak months in May and June. Those are really the top months for strawberry sales. After that, it continues, but those are the real strawberry months. Last year, we planted more everbearers for the first time, but this year we'll be staggering the planting more. We noticed that the small covers used in rack cultivation worked for everbearers, but we couldn't get more than two harvests from them. So while we can plant everything at once, that means we won't have large volumes in September and October. That's why we'll be planting more carefully in the racks this year to extend the season a bit more. It will still take some time to find the ideal schedule for ever-bearers."
Besides strawberries, other crops at the nursery are also gradually coming into production. "This year, for example, we'll also continue with raspberries. These have now been fully planted, and we expect to start harvesting them in the second week of May. We've also added blackberries this year. Last year, I couldn't get the Sweet Royalla variety, but this year we managed to plant them, and they'll start flowering this week. It's the flagship blackberry, after all. Meanwhile, the cherry trees are already blooming nicely. They'll be about a week later than last year, but last year everything was very early. Still, if all goes well, we'll start harvesting just in time for Mother's Day weekend. It's always nice to be able to offer our own cherries during that weekend. Quality-wise, they're looking very good as well."
For more information:
Benoit Demedts
Kwekerij Demedts - De Mey 
Middenstraat 97z
8830 Gits, Belgium
Tel: +32 479 69 08 67
benoitdemedts@gmail.com
www.demedts-demey.be