Scattered frost late last month didn't hurt Springs Farm's strawberry crops.

With temperatures dipping as low as 33 degrees on April 16, and setting a new record low at 37 degrees on April 30, there was a chance this year's strawberry crop could have suffered the same fate as last year's peach crop, which was completely wiped out.

This time, however, the cold didn't persist long enough to cause any damage, according to Leroy Springs Farm Manager Ron Frodge.

Saturday, with temperatures near 80 degrees, customers packed the four acres of fields set aside for people who want to pick their own fruit. The field, on Springfield Parkway, is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1 to 7 p.m. Sundays. For $9.50, paid across the road at the Springs Farm Stand, they get a box that will hold a gallon of strawberries.

"We had a good crowd last Saturday, the first day we opened," Frodge said last Thursday. "There's no problem finding berries."

Springs planted approximately 15 acres of strawberries this year. It plants 15 to 20 acres each year. Of that, 10 to 11 acres will be harvested commercially for sale through the Springs Farm stand and the Peach Stand on Hwy. 21. Some of the berries will go to a few other commercial outlets as well, Frodge said. Roughly four acres of the crop is open to the public for the pick-your-own season.

But don't wait too long; These strawberry fields do not last forever. Picking should be available through the second week of June.

"Once it starts getting real hot you can kiss the strawberries goodbye," Frodge said. "They can't take the heat."

This year's peach crop will be OK too, Frodge said. Mother Nature has been much more cooperative this year and all 80 acres of peaches are growing according to schedule. Springs peaches will begin showing up at the Peach Stand and elsewhere later this spring.