THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605180324
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
Unlike most local strawberries, which leave the fields in pick-your-own pails, Bert Dail's plump, red-lacquered berries are heading off to the wholesale market in 8-quart cardboard flats this year.
Down at Dail's Pungo Produce farm on Muddy Creek Road recently, the hands of migrant workers from the Eastern Shore were flying as they picked glossy berries with shiny green caps and tossed them into the wax-coated flats.
The flats are loaded up in a truck and carried to a wholesale produce company in Salisbury, Md., as well as to Hannaford Food and Drugs, Farmer Jack and other local outlets, such as the Virginia Beach Farmers Market.
It's the peak of the strawberry season, and Dail is right proud of this patch of berries. Called Chandlers, the plants are lush green and sparkling clean because they are growing on green plastic that covers the dusty soil.
``See how beautiful they are!'' Dail said. ``I've never grown anything as pretty as this.''
This strawberry season, Dail is attempting to bring strawberries full circle in Virginia Beach by returning to the days when Princess Anne County strawberry growers shipped their berries far and wide.
He's the first in the area to revert to the way it was several decades ago, said Melvin Atkinson, Virginia Beach agricultural extension agent. That was when Virginia Beach was one of the top spots on the East Coast for strawberry production.
Then the price of labor became too high. Instead of hiring pickers, farmers went to pick-your-own berries and encouraged the city folk to come ``down to the county'' and harvest their own.
Today, the new method of growing strawberries on plastic may make it economical enough to return to picking and selling berries wholesale. The plastic increases the yield by keeping down weeds and diseases and lengthens the season by warming the soil.
``This year, I'm just trying to see what I can do,'' Dail said. ``All these stores are beating their chests about selling local produce. I'm looking to see how serious they are.''
Anyone who wants to buy wholesale flats of strawberries from Dail can call 426-FARM. He also will deliver to local restaurants if the restaurants in a certain area get together and order enough flats to make the trip worthwhile.
``We've got to show them, there's nothing like a Pungo berry!'' said Dail's foreman, Oscar Guerrero.
Dail isn't putting all his strawberries in one basket - not yet. Pungo Produce's roadside stand at Princess Anne and Indian River roads sells berries by the quart. A 2 1/2-acre pick-your-own field is right there at the intersection, too.
Pungo Produce will be open every day throughout the season for strawberry-hungry locals, as will other pick-your-own fields and roadside stands in the area. ``Farm Fun in Tidewater,'' published by the Virginia Beach Cooperative Extension, is a guide to some pick-your-own fields and roadside stands and is available free in Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach public libraries.
Because of the chilly spring, strawberries were a little late this year, Dail said. And chilly nights are keeping them from ripening too fast, so the berries should be available right into June.
In fact, there should even be plenty of local strawberries at the Pungo Strawberry Festival next weekend, May 25 and 26. Many years, the season is waning by the time the festival comes around and festival-goers find themselves feasting on California strawberries.
``Now, three or four real hot days in a row - that could burn them up real quick,'' Dail cautioned.
``But this weekend and next,'' he said, ``should be the peak.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot
Jose Chavez Lira, a farm worker, hefts a flat of strawberries at
Pungo Produce Farms in Virginia Beach. The farm raises berries for
local customers as well as wholesale markets. A new method, planting
atop sheets of plastic, makes harvesting the juicy red morsels
easier and cheaper.
Graphic
WHERE TO GET YOUR BERRIES
Here's a list of some places to pick or buy local strawberries in
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk compiled with the help of the
Virginia Cooperative Extension in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and
Suffolk. Before heading out to pick or buy, call to check on
availability and picking conditions. (RS indicates Roadside Stand;
PYO is Pick-your-own).
Allen's Produce - RS
2016 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach
491-4159
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
Baybreeze Farms - RS & PYO
Corner of Sandbridge and New Bridge roads, Virginia Beach
721-3288
8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Culpeper Farm - RS & PYO
2933 Buskey Road, Chesapeake
421-9232
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Green's Strawberry Farm - RS & PYO
2212 Holland Road, Suffolk
539-8033
7 a.m. to 7 p.m daily
Henley Farm - PYO
3513 Charity Neck Road, Virginia Beach
426-7501
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Hickory Ridge Farm - RS & PYO
2928 Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake
421-4720
7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
Holly Road Produce - RS
2900 Baltic Ave., Virginia Beach
491-1358
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Munden Farm - PYO
1377 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach
426-2747
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday - Saturday
Poor John's Farm - PYO
2019 Cedar Road, Chesapeake
485-3656
8 a.m. to 6 p.m daily
Powell's Pick-Your-Own Strawberries & Pumpkins
South Battlefield Blvd. next to Hickory Ruritan Club, Chesapeake
421-3607
Call for hours
Princess Anne Produce and Petting Farm - RS & PYO
2400 London Bridge Road, Virginia Beach
427-9520
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
Pungo Produce - RS & PYO
Corner of Indian River and Princess Anne roads, Virginia Beach
426-7016
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
Pungo Produce - wholesale
1585 N. Muddy Creek Road, Virginia Beach
426-FARM (call ahead)
Stoney's Produce - RS
997 First Colonial Road, Virginia Beach
496-8795
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
Virginia Beach Farmers Market
3640 Dam Neck Road, Virginia Beach
427-4395
9 a.m. to 5 p.m daily
Warren Farms - PYO
1448 Battlefield Blvd. S., Chesapeake
482-7150
Call for hours
Williams Farm - RS
1000 N. Newtown Road, Virginia Beach
497-5649
Call ahead for hours
Williams Farm - PYO
4336 Sunray Ave., Chesapeake
488-2250
6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
by CNB