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Health & Fitness

Celebrate 50 Years of Strawberries at Jones Family Farm in Shelton

Read about the strawberries at Jones Family Farm in Shelton.

This week, Terry Jones of Jones Family Farms will celebrate a tradition he began fifty years ago as a young teenager: setting out thousands of baby strawberry plants. Jones refers to this as the "Strawberry Red Anniversary" rather than the more typical "Golden Anniversary " because it honors a half of a century of tradition as well as two years of plant production.  
In 2013, Jones Family Farms is recognizing the 50th anniversary of planting the ‘Queen of Fruits’ and 2014 will mark the 50th harvest!

According to the Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture, Steven K. Reviczky, Terry Jones may be the state’s oldest commercial grower having continuously planted strawberries for 50 years.

Two aspects of strawberries have remained constant over the last half-century, according to Jones.  First, the consistent challenge of the weather.  This spring is no exception.  The last week of May started with 28 degrees and frost at Jones’ ‘Valley Farm’ and ended with three days of highs in the mid-90s.  In both cases, the plants and fruit were protected by irrigation sprinklers.  The second constant  is the excitement and passion of farm guests to harvest and to taste the sweet goodness of the first, ripe strawberries of the season!  Jones’ strawberries are ripening now, as they normally do in early June, in contrast to last year’s record early start in May so it won't be long  before it is strawberry shortcake time!

Jones Family Farms is located in Shelton, Connecticut, off Route 110.  For more information regarding hours of operation, picking locations, picking tips, and other information, visitors can call the Farmer Jones crop info line at (203) 929-8425, visit the Jones website at www.jonesfamilyfarms.com/farm/strawberries, their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jonesfamilyfarms, or follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jonesfamilyfarm.

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