Frost and soil that remained frozen after a long winter are being blamed for a poor crop of Norwegian strawberries this year. The berries, viewed as a delicacy by most Norwegians, were badly damaged and some growers have been left with none at all after their plants withered and died.
Many of the berries showing up in Norwegian grocery stores haven’t been looking good, either. Unstable weather along with frost and ice that lay over the strawberry fields this spring meant that “the plants couldn’t breathe and were smothered,” one grower in Stavern, on Norway’s southern coast, told newspaper Aftenposten.
Growers are having problems in all the coastal counties, where the berries usually appear first. Some think the situation may improve later in the summer, but meanwhile, Norwegian berries are even more expensive than normal (currently around NOK 40 per basket, or USD 6.50) and imported berries are priced just as high.
newsinenglish.no staff
