BERRIES A BIT LATE BUT QUALITY, TASTE IS GREAT

Strawberries aren't a major crop in Missouri. They aren't even listed in Missouri Farm Facts, a publication of the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service that summarizes the state's farm products.

"There are a number of small patches of strawberries throughout the state," said Dave Enslie, agriculture statistician. "But we don't keep statistics on them."

Many of the strawberry patches are in Southeast Missouri, and this week is picking time in most of them.

"Strawberries are a little late this year," said J.E. Deevers, who with his wife, Sally, raises a variety of strawberries on a farm north of Cape Girardeau. "We had a cold April and some cool days in May which slowed the ripening."

That isn't unusual, however, said Deevers. "I've seen years where berries were ready by Mother's Day, and there have been years when we didn't have ripe berries until Memorial Day."

This year the ripening of strawberries falls between those two dates.

Don and Joan Illers and their son Chris opened their strawberry patches for picking today.

"They're a little later than usual, but this year's berries are of good quality," said Joan Illers.

Deevers and Jack Smart agreed.

"We'll pick a few berries today and more later in the week," said Smart, executive director of Mid America Teen Challenge, which will hold its annual strawberry festival this weekend.

"Hopefully we'll have plenty of strawberries for the festival," said Smart. "And we also hope to open our strawberry stand in Town Plaza Monday."

The sunshine and warm temperatures of the past two days have helped the ripening process.

"We'll be doing a lot of picking later this week," said Smart. "We want plenty of berries for our festival."

Deevers and his wife, Sally, who grow from one-and-a-half to two acres of strawberries, picked their first berries Monday. "They were great," said Deevers. "They were big and had a good flavor."

Deevers is a 90 percent pick-your-own operation.

"We need a little rain now," said Deevers. "Not too much to keep people out of the fields."

The Illers farm, which moved from Jackson to Millersville last year, will be providing berries through July.

"We start picking strawberries today," said Illers. "People can pick their own or purchase ready-picked berries."

The Illers farm will offer blueberries in June, to be followed by blackberries in July.

The Illers raise more than five acres of strawberries and about a half-acre each of blueberries and blackberries.

The seventh annual Teen Challenge festival will be held Saturday form 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Teen Challenge Training Center about five miles north of Cape Girardeau on County Road 621. The public is invited.

Special events include guided tours of the training facility and strawberry fields, puppet shows for children, Teen Challenge choir mini-concerts, drawings for free quarts of strawberries and a free serving of strawberry shortcake.

Barbecue lunches will be available for purchase along with strawberry baked goods, Teen Challenge craft items and strawberries by the quart.

Organizers said the purpose of the event is to offer the public a view of the Teen Challenge program and to see the result of their donations to the organization.20Mid-America Teen Challenge is a religious training facility for men ages 17 and over who have had difficulties with drugs, alcohol, or other life-controlling problems.