Rain makes banner year for strawberries

Strawberry growers in northern Indiana say this year has been one of the best for berries.\n"We have the most and best berries we've ever had," said Don Schlarb, co-owner of Hilltop Farms in Mishawaka, who's been growing berries for nearly 50 years.\nCalvin Schlabach, who owns a small farm near Middlebury, is growing raspberries, sweet corn and green beans, but people are most excited about the strawberries, he said.\nMonday, cars with people waiting to pick berries were lined up down his driveway at 5:30 a.m.\nHe ended up with about 130 people at one time in his 2-acre patch.\nBy the time all the rows were picked around 9 a.m., the Schlabachs had sold 4,000 pounds.\nThe weather this spring was ideal for the berries, according to Beth Neff, manager of Mill Race Center Farmer's Market in Goshen.\n"The flavor is incredible," she said of this year's crop. The plentiful rain, followed by cool conditions, allowed the berries to get big and flavorful before the heat arrived in time to ripen them.\n"Everything worked out all right," Schlarb said.\nHilltop has lost money on berries the past 15 years, Schlarb said, but not this year.\n"We have a problem here anymore of it getting hot before it used to," he told The Truth newspaper. This year they'll make more money, even though prices are the same as they've been the last 15 years.\nNext year, Schlarb is planning to have 35 acres of strawberries, rather than the 20 he has this year.