BERRY CROP IN REGION HAS BEEN GOOD ONE

Strawberries have come and soon will go, but blueberries are coming on.

Missouri strawberries were ready for picking early this year.

"We started selling berries about May 10," said Richard Meyer, vocational director of Mid-America Teen Challenge, which offers fresh strawberries daily at its fruit stand at Independence and Plaza Way.

"That's about eight to 10 days earlier than last year," said Meyer, who operated the stand with Teen Challenge Choir director Phil Breithaupt this week.

Strawberries are a big fund raiser for the religious Teen Challenge Center for men 17 and older who have had difficulties with drugs, alcohol or other life-controlling problems.

Teen Challenges sells as many as 20,000 quarts of strawberries during the season. The berries are available both at the stand in Cape Girardeau and at the training center.

Sales at the stand ended about 1 p.m. Thursday when the last of 704 quarts of berries were sold.

"One day last week we went through 88 flats of berries in 40 minutes," said Meyer. That translates into 704 quarts..

"We'll be back at the stand again Monday," said Meyer. Teen Challenged picked berries for the 10th annual Strawberry Festival, which is held at the center along County Road 621 north of Cape Girardeau.

The festival will be held today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Events include guided tours of the center and strawberry fields, puppet shows for children and mini concerts by the New Creations Choir. Strawberry shortcake will be served, and a barbecue lunch will be available.

The festival serves as an open house for the center. Residents at the center attend Bible study classes each morning, and many work in the strawberry fields later in the day. Others make wood crafts or work with lawn service crews around town.

Meyer figures another week will wrap up the strawberry season, but coming up soon will be blueberries.

Over the past few years the blueberry crop has been good in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The blueberry season in the area usually begins about the time strawberries fade out. Blueberry picking, which will get under way in early to mid-June, could last into August.

There are many small patches of blueberries in the southern half of Missouri. As many as 40 blueberry farms are listed in the state agriculture department's blueberry brochure. There used to be more. During the Depression as many as 3,000 acres of blueberries could be found in Cape Girardeau County.

Blueberries are easier to pick than strawberries. They grow within easy reach on bushes.

The Missouri Extension Service offers these suggestions for those who pick their own blueberries:

* Pick only fresh berries that are firm, ripe and blue.

* Don't pry blueberries form the bush; they should come loose with only slight pressure.

* Take along a cooler. Chilling the berries soon after picking will increase their shelf life. Fresh-picked berries usually keep 10 to 14 days.

* If you plan to freeze the berries, wait to wash them before use to keep them fresher. To freeze, pack the fresh berries into freezer bags or containers and place them in the freezer.

"Blueberries are a good treat," said one extension specialist. "They're sweet, nutritious and low in calories, and they don't require peeling, seeding or coring."

Strawberries and blueberries are not major crops in Missouri. They aren't even listed in Missouri Farm Facts, a publication of the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service that summarizes the state's farm products.

There are a number of small patches of strawberries throughout the state, said Dave Enslie, Missouri agriculture statistician.

Many strawberry patches in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois allow customers to pick their own berries. This provides youngsters an opportunity to visit a farm, say agriculture specialists.