Tasuja farm owner Toomas Lillo in Ahja, Põlva County, said there were a lot of berries still left in the field in July as the peak harvesting period was shorter than usual.

The berries ripened quickly and spoiled just as quickly due to mold from excess moisture.

"After Midsummer (the strawberries – ed.) started coming, but when we had that hot weather, it really ripened the berries properly in the field, and then came tremendous downpours. That accelerated the ripening even further, but it also made the berries rot in the field, so a lot were left in the field as well, and we managed to get relatively few proper table strawberries. It could have been twice as much as we managed to pick," Lillo said.

In the coming weeks, they hope to get more of a crop from plants planted this year.

"So right now it may be the last time for jam berries. If, as forecast, we get another tremendous storm and hail, then they will turn into jam in the field already, but there are still faint hopes for the new field as well. We'll see, perhaps we'll manage to get some crop from the new field, but that will still take time," he added.

Tiina Urm, owner of Tontoli berry farm near Valgjärve village in Kanepi municipality, said she is experiencing similar problems.

"There was a point when, after those heavy rains, we had warm weather alternating with rain, when during some harvests we were able to get only 30 percent of the berries from the field; the rest was waste that had to be disposed of," Urm said.

According to strawberry growers, the season will continue for another couple of weeks, but as time goes on, the strawberries get smaller. The later strawberries have a higher sugar content and are well suited for making jam.

"The first strawberry is always the most beautiful, the biggest. In spring, the first strawberry is the sweetest because you have nothing to compare it with, except perhaps Greek strawberries, but as a grower I say, and I also tell my customers, that strawberries are at their sweetest in the middle of the harvest, and towards the end those small strawberries are especially good," Urm said.

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