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Local farmers gear up for annual strawberry festival

Posted at 2:52 PM, May 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-12 11:12:46-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - The 33rd Annual Pungo Strawberry Festival starts in just a few weeks, and with all this rain, some are worried. But local farmers are assuring the public that their crops haven't had many issues.

Danielle Wright spent her first time visiting Cullipher Farms going row to row picking strawberries on Wednesday.

“It’s great. I think it’s really good for the kids to be involved in learning to grow,” Wright said.

Wright says it’s better than she expected.

“They look like they’re, you know, all ready to be picked and beautiful and juicy and coming right off the vine. You can’t get better than that,” Wright said.

The farm’s owner, Louis Cullipher, says they are fortunate because the rain hasn’t hurt them financially.

“I describe it was a bumpy season. It was wet and cold early. We had provide a lot of frost protection to overhear to irrigation,” Cullipher said.

Cullipher also says they’ve been able to grow the same amount of strawberries this year mostly due to the soil in the Pungo Ridge area being conducive with growing produce.

“It’s still a pretty important specialty crop here,” Cullipher saud.

As for the children, Wright says they all are talking home baskets full of fresh, organic, ready-to-eat strawberries.

Cullipher says they are now gearing up for the Pungo Strawberry Festival, which will kick off on May 28 in Pungo Ridge.

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