Picking strawberries for a sweet start to the weekend in Fresno County

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- In a sure sign of spring, it's strawberry season here in the Valley.

Sunshine's Farm in Fresno County opened up Friday for people to buy strawberries.

Within 30 minutes of their gates opening, they were sold out of picked strawberries.

Even though they haven't technically opened up "u-pick" -- where people head out to the fields to find their own berries -- they let people search the fields for some they may have missed.

"I found some strawberries that are all ripe," said James Kendzora, Sunshine's Farm visitor. "And some like this one. Not all the way ripe."

Eager customers scoured the fields for strawberries to take home.

"There's just still not as much yet," said Sunshine Yang, Sunshine's Farm. "They're still blooming. So you know, give us a little more time. Then within the next two weeks or so, we'll have them ready out there for you guys to go out there and pick."

Yang and her family decided to let people try their luck in the fields after they sold out of pre-picked strawberries within 30 minutes of opening for the season Friday morning.

She said their crops are a little behind this year because of the rain the past few months.

"Since it rained a lot in our field tends to get flooded out there," said Yang. "Our strawberry didn't take it well, so there are still late bloomers out there."

She says the good news is the season will last a little longer giving people more opportunities to come out to the farm.

For families with little ones, the hunt for ripe strawberries filled some time on a spring break afternoon.

"We were on our way back from the zoo and we saw them post on Facebook that they're gonna have strawberries today and good activity to do on a nice day during spring break," said Bradley Kendzora, Sunshine's Farm visitor. "My son was excited about it."

Excited about the hunt and eager to share what he found.

"I got some funny-shaped ones like this one," said James Kendzora. "I got some normal-shaped ones like this one."

Yang said they expect May to be the peak time to come out and pick strawberries. Until more strawberries ripen, Sunshine's Farm will just be open on weekends. If you visit they have other produce, treats, and a food truck on site.

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