Gina Fernandez is a leading strawberry, blackberry and raspberry breeder and heads the Small Fruits Extension Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does the small fruits Extension group serve growers?<\/strong> What makes a \u201cgood\u201d strawberry?<\/strong> How has the berry industry grown in the 25-plus years you\u2019ve been at NC State?<\/strong> Your work has been instrumental in developing a commercial blackberry industry in western North Carolina. How did that come about?<\/strong> After all these years of working with berries, do you still like eating them?<\/strong> Favorite way to eat strawberries?<\/strong> Gina Fernandez is a leading strawberry, blackberry and raspberry breeder and heads the Small Fruits Extension Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does the small fruits Extension group serve growers?<\/strong> What makes a \u201cgood\u201d strawberry?<\/strong> How has the berry industry grown in the 25-plus years you\u2019ve been at NC State?<\/strong> Your work has been instrumental in developing a commercial blackberry industry in western North Carolina. How did that come about?<\/strong> After all these years of working with berries, do you still like eating them?<\/strong> Favorite way to eat strawberries?<\/strong> John D. and Nell R. Leazar Distinguished Professor of Horticultural Science<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"John D. and Nell R. Leazar Distinguished Professor of Horticultural Science\",\"displayCategoryID\":5,\"caption\":\"Photograph by Marc Hall \u201920 MA, NC State.\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[150,204,269,477,531,867,1109],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-2099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-blackberries","tag-caroline-barnhill","tag-college-of-agriculture-and-life-sciences","tag-gina-fernandez","tag-horticultural-science","tag-nc-state-extension","tag-strawberries"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":5,"name":"Best Bets","slug":"best-bets","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":52,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5020,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions\/5020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2099"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=2099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We hold annual meetings with growers where we present information on production, pruning and training\u2009\u2014\u2009as well as present findings on research we\u2019ve conducted over the year. We do a lot of on-farm trials, whether it\u2019s fertility studies or evaluation of new cultivars. We try to respond to the growers\u2019 needs for research, which in turn enables us to move the science forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nice sugar-acid balance, some aromatics\u2009\u2014\u2009either peachy or sherry\u2009\u2014\u2009and, of course, texture. We don\u2019t like our berries too firm, but firm enough to last a while in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Berries have become much more popular. When I was growing up, berries were only available for a short period of time. Now they\u2019re available year-round, even if they\u2019re coming from other places in the country. We have strawberry growers in almost every North Carolina county\u2009\u2014\u2009about half being smaller \u201cpick-your-own\u201d growers and half larger commercial growers who also ship up the East Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had been conducting yield trials for blackberries and raspberries for many years and could see that blackberries could grow well in the western part of the state. There was a company from Florida that was looking to extend its blackberry production into North Carolina, so I connected them with growers. From there, our Extension service helped those growers learn the basics of growing and harvesting blackberries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always get excited eating my first few at the beginning of each season. Toward the end, not so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On salad\u2009\u2014\u2009salad greens, sliced red onion, fresh strawberries with a sweet poppy seed dressing. <\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\nBy Caroline Barnhill \u201905<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
We hold annual meetings with growers where we present information on production, pruning and training\u2009\u2014\u2009as well as present findings on research we\u2019ve conducted over the year. We do a lot of on-farm trials, whether it\u2019s fertility studies or evaluation of new cultivars. We try to respond to the growers\u2019 needs for research, which in turn enables us to move the science forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nice sugar-acid balance, some aromatics\u2009\u2014\u2009either peachy or sherry\u2009\u2014\u2009and, of course, texture. We don\u2019t like our berries too firm, but firm enough to last a while in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Berries have become much more popular. When I was growing up, berries were only available for a short period of time. Now they\u2019re available year-round, even if they\u2019re coming from other places in the country. We have strawberry growers in almost every North Carolina county\u2009\u2014\u2009about half being smaller \u201cpick-your-own\u201d growers and half larger commercial growers who also ship up the East Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had been conducting yield trials for blackberries and raspberries for many years and could see that blackberries could grow well in the western part of the state. There was a company from Florida that was looking to extend its blackberry production into North Carolina, so I connected them with growers. From there, our Extension service helped those growers learn the basics of growing and harvesting blackberries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always get excited eating my first few at the beginning of each season. Toward the end, not so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On salad\u2009\u2014\u2009salad greens, sliced red onion, fresh strawberries with a sweet poppy seed dressing. <\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"