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If you were planning to pick raspberries this summer, you’ll be disappointed. The Wright-Locke Farm newsletter has announced the farm will no longer allow the activity.
“While change isn’t always easy, it is critical to improve,” the newsletter says. “U-Pick raspberries have been a staple of Wright-Locke Farm for the last 50 years…. However, environmental changes have made fruit farming on our land increasingly difficult.”
Wright-Locke listed its reasons, saying a fruit fly called the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) has been destroying the fruit, and the farm lacks enough staff and volunteers to maintain a healthy crop. In the beds where the berries used to grow, there is a plan to grow more produce and maximize the two acres of growing fields.
“When the Hamilton family made this land a one-crop farm, they weren’t going to farmers markets to provide the community with a variety of produce. Also, the SWD fruit fly wasn’t here yet!” Wright-Locke’s website clarifies. “Originating in East Asia, this fruit fly has been an increasingly difficult challenge, and as temperatures are warming, it is laying larvae earlier in the season. The larvae feed on the inside of the raspberry, breaking it down into a squishy mess.”
As an organic farm, Wright-Locke doesn’t use chemicals on its crops so, as the site says, “having a smaller raspberry crop that we can professionally manage is best.” Raspberries will still be available at the farm market.
By producing raspberries, the last family to own the farm maintained its agricultural status, which meant their town taxes were considerably reduced. When the town took over the farm in 2015, the tradition continued.
But as one Facebook member said, “The world is changing and farmers have to do what they need to survive.”
The community farm, one of the oldest continually operating farms within Rt. 128, is always looking for volunteers. Find out more here.
Still looking to pick raspberries or other fruit this summer? Check out this list of Pick Your Own farms in the local area.
Winchester News editor Nell Escobar Coakley contributed to this report.
