A celebration of Sanford’s sweetest crop

Strawberry farming began locally as a ‘stay afloat’ crop between tobacco harvests. Today, Lee County is a leader in strawberry production and home to a rapidly growing spring festival

By Billy Liggett

Mandy Johnson was 2 when her first encounter with a strawberry led to a week in the hospital. It’s not entirely uncommon for a small child to have a strawberry allergy — approximately 3 percent of U.S. children do at that age. But Johnson’s situation was a bit more complicated, as her parents were farmers, and strawberries were her family’s cash crop every spring. 

“Luckily, by the time I was in middle school, I outgrew the allergy,” says Johnson, looking at a framed black-and-white photo of her younger self smiling behind a basket of fresh berries. “I still can’t pick them though … it was always a good excuse to keep me out of the fields growing up, so I didn’t mind it.”

Johnson isn’t just the daughter of a strawberry farmer. Her dad — Gary Thomas of Gary Thomas Farms in Sanford — was the first to grow strawberries in Lee County when he turned to the crop in 1981 as a way to bring in some spring income between tobacco harvests. The farm, located off of Rice Road near East Lee Middle School and the 421 Bypass, still grows tobacco today, as well as wheat, corn, soybeans, oats, tomatoes and sweet potatoes (to name a few).

Strawberries eventually became more than just a “stay afloat” crop the farm. For years, Gary Thomas was the only berry producer in town. A few more popped up in the late 90s and early 2000s, and today, Lee County is home to at least eight large farms that sell strawberries wholesale and/or direct to customers (many of them running “U-Pick” operations) and several smaller farms that sell them both on site and in local markets or road-side stands.

And while most U.S.-grown strawberries are produced in California and Florida, North Carolina ranks third in the nation for producing fresh market berries, with between 1,500 and 2,000 acres of farmland dedicated to them. Lee County — along with Pender and Nash counties — ranks among the top producers within the state, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.

Strawberries are so popular here, Downtown Sanford Inc. and the Sanford Tourism Development Authority partnered to celebrate them in 2020 with their first Strawberry Jammin’ festival coinciding with downtown’s Farmers Market. The event was such a hit, it has grown to include berry-themed dishes and drinks from local restaurants and bars, strawberry themed offerings from downtown businesses, live music and more. 

More than 5,000 people attended last year’s Jammin’ festival. More are hoped to attend this year.

“When we started it in 2021, it was just a way to promote the Farmers Market and maybe have a theme for one weekend,” says TDA Executive Director Wendy Bryan. “It’s grown from maybe 1,000 people that first year. People already come here from all around to visit our strawberry farms, and [Strawberry Jammin’] is a celebration of that. It’s become a big draw.”

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FRUITFUL HISTORY

The first mention of strawberries in human history occurred sometime between 234-149 BC in the writings of Cato, a Roman Senator. Those first descriptions were about its medicinal uses, rather than its benefits as a fruit. In the 12th Century, Hildegard Von Binger — a German nun, writer, philosopher and saint — wrote that strawberries were “unfit for consumption” because they grew too close to the ground (the belief was they could be contaminated by snakes, toads or any other animal that could touch them).

These versions of the strawberry looked very little like what we know today. They were smaller, tougher and lacked flavor. It wasn’t until the 1300s when the French began transplanting the wood strawberry from the wilderness into man-made gardens. Musky strawberries were grown in Europe in the 1500s, while colonists introduced the Virginia strawberry in North America around that time. Those berries found their way back to Europe in the 1600s, but it would be another century or two before the strawberry would find its purpose. 

The modern strawberry we know today — Fragaria ananassa — was the result of cross pollinating the sweet fruit grown in Virginia with the larger Chilean strawberry. Massachusetts horticulturalist Charles Hovey is credited by many with creating the first intentionally bred strawberry in 1834, playing a key role in popularizing and improving the country’s cultivated strawberry market. The 1800s saw a rapid expansion of the market, as advances in agriculture and transportation allowed the fruit to become more widely available. Innovations in greenhouse and refrigeration technology expanded the growing season, and by the middle of the century, strawberries were no longer considered a luxury item.

California was an early leader in strawberry production, followed by Florida because of their warmer climates. In North Carolina, the tiny town of Chadbourn — south of Lumberton, near Whiteville — is considered the birthplace of strawberry farming in the Tar Heel State. In 1895, a merchant farmer (and state senator) named Joseph Addison Brown razed thousands of acres of timber land and brought in 160 families to plant in the ground’s fertile soil. 

The town’s first attempt at strawberries failed, but the following year, nearly seven acres of strawberries took and sold for more than $5,500. By 1907, the area produced 347,000 crates, and Chadbourn was dubbed the “Strawberry Capital of the World.” The town’s population today barely exceeds 1,500 people, but its North Carolina Strawberry Festival — celebrating its 92nd year on May 3 — draws an estimated 10,000 participants every year. 

Cottle Strawberry Farm in Faison — near Mt. Olive — is considered North Carolina’s first “U-Pick” farm. Their history claims that in the early 1970s, production had surpassed demand in the Carolinas, causing many farmers to dump their harvest into local rivers — it was said “the rivers ran red from all the discarded berries,” according to lore. In an effort to prevent waste, Ned Cottle opened his fields in Goldsboro to the public and invited families to pick their own fruit. The idea took off, and Cottle Farms expanded across eastern North Carolina and into South Carolina. 

Today, North Carolina ranks third in the United States in strawberry production, based on value of the crop harvested. The state boasts around 2,000 total acres, and annual production exceeds 20 million pounds and $29.4 million in farm income. The U-Pick option is fairly unique to the Carolinas — most of the fruit produced in the state is sold either straight from the farm or in local markets or local supermarket chains (California and Florida primarily grow for shipping).

Harvest season in the Piedmont region of North Carolina usually begins in mid- to late-April (and in May in the western part of the state). Weather permitting, most local farms have a five- to eight-week window for picking strawberries. Cooler weather prolongs the season, and hot, dry weather can shut it down. According to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, May is considered “peak” strawberry season locally, and it’s officially “Strawberry Month” in the state.

According to Gary Thomas, the timing of strawberry season in the central part of the state couldn’t be better. “The climate here is just right — further east, growers have berries a few weeks before us, and further north, they are a few weeks behind,” he says. “The conditions here are just right for when we need to be producing and not interfere with other crops.” 

When Thomas began growing strawberries in 1981, he began growing directly from the ground (not on plastic). “Plasticulture” was initially developed in California and Florida in the 1960s and, according to the Cooperative Extension, consisted of using fumigated, raised beds covered with plastic mulch film and drip irrigation. The process made its way to the Carolinas in the 80s and became more popular in the 90s (around the time Thomas used it). Though it’s more expensive to grow on plastic, the process yields higher productivity.

A good season — like the one strawberry farmers are currently enjoying — can be an economic boon to a farm like Thomas’, which has a regular table at downtown Sanford’s Farmers Market every Saturday (stocked, currently, with buckets of fresh strawberries). But according to Johnson, there are risks with any crop, and last year’s hurricane season was rough on all farmers in the state.

“We had a huge loss to our farm last year [after Hurricane Helene],” she says. “And before that storm, we were reeling from a drought. After a long stretch of dry weather, we had too much rain from back-to-back storms, and it just ruined us. We didn’t make what we should have made, and then even with insurance, there were a lot of smaller farms that went out of business, because they didn’t have the means to start over this year.” 

A strong strawberry season can make up for a rough fall. In an area that leans heavily on tobacco production, spring berry sales (in addition to fall corn mazes and pumpkin patches) have become a vital source of income for local farmers. 

“No offense to the strawberries you buy in grocery stores,” Johnson says, “but there’s just such a difference when you buy them fresh, straight from the farm.”

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TIME TO JAM

Strawberry and cream cheese on a hamburger. Strawberry pizza. Margaritas. Coffees. Beers. Cookies. Donuts. Cakes. Smoothies. French toast. Ice cream. 

Strawberry banana pudding.

The original purpose of Strawberry Jammin’ in downtown Sanford was to get people to the Farmers Market. In 2020 — the beginning months of the COVID pandemic — public events had to be outdoors, and Downtown Sanford Inc. and Visit Sanford were looking for ways to connect vendors and customers again. DSI Executive Director Kelli Laudate and Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Wendy Bryan reached out to Bill Stone from Lee County’s Cooperative Extension and asked which crop they should “theme” one of their spring markets around. 

Stone didn’t hesitate. Make it about the strawberry.

“So that first year, we put together an enhanced market around strawberries, and we asked downtown merchants to pick a dish to feature,” Bryan says. “So we publicized it with menus and really only used Facebook and Instagram.”

The result? Maybe people were just desperate to get outdoors, but that strawberry-themed farmers market was by far the largest market of that year. Strawberry Jammin’ was born, and by 2021, area restaurants, breweries and retailers wanted in on the theme. 

That’s why you can order a “Strawburger with basil cream cheese” from Local Joes’ Tap & Grill or a “Strawberry jammin’ Beergarita” from Sips & Sequels on May 10. That day, Sanford will have gone strawberry crazy.

The day will begin with the same event that kicked it off back in 2020 — the Farmers Market, which will run from 8:30 to noon. In addition to booths from local strawberry farmers (Gary Thomas Farms, Barry’s Strawberry Farm, Gross Farms, McNeill farms, Buchanan Farms and White Hill Farms), the market features meat and poultry farmers, bread makers, artisans, florists, woodcarvers and more. There will also be live bluegrass music, strawberry science experiments for the kids, strawberry samples, face painting, a strawberry costume contest and more going on. 

The Steele Street Stroll will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Restaurants, bakeries, breweries, wine bars, boutiques and specialty shops will all have strawberry-themed menu items and goods available, in addition to their regular items. While all of downtown will be taking part, a stretch of Steele Street from Wicker to Carthage streets will feature food and drink tents and food trucks. 

Attendance has quintupled since the first Jammin’ event, from 1,000 in 2020 to more than 5,000 last year. According to Bryan, a large contingent of visitors are day-trippers from outside of Lee County — a lot of Raleigh/Durham/Cary visitors and people from parts east and west. 

Both Bryan and Laudate are focused on this year, but the 2026 festival will be a special one with the expected opening of the Pilgrim’s of Sanford Ag Marketplace going up along Carthage Street near the market’s current location. The marketplace will serve as a multi-functional space for not just the weekly market, but civic events and gatherings, 4-H meetings, a food donation hub, cooking classes and more. 

“We’re in talks to expand the event,” says Laudate. “We’ve been doing it the second weekend of May [Mother’s Day weekend], which has been great for us, because we’re finding that a lot of people are treating their moms by bringing them out here and making this a family event.”

Just like golf, pottery, wedding venues and Sanford’s impressive lineup of authentic Mexican food restaurants and quality breweries, strawberries — and other agri-tourism draws like pumpkin patches and corn mazes in the fall — have become an important part of Lee County’s tourism engine, according to Bryan. Lee County is home to more than 264 farms (44 that sell director to the consumer), 35,000-plus acres of farmland and more than 120 “new or beginning farmers). According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, Lee County brought in nearly $200,000 in agri-tourism in 2022 — which that may not seem like a lot as a total, it ranks in the top third of North Carolina counties in that category.

“Whether it’s ‘U-Pick’ or just visiting a farm and buying fresh produce, it’s become an experience that people love this time of year,” Bryan says.

Strawberry Jammin’ celebrates those farmers and that experience, Laudate says. 

“We didn’t expect it to be as popular as it was that first year, and now it’s really taking off,” she says. “I would love to see it continue to grow.”