Strawberries are one of the Garden State's signature crops, but a nasty hailstorm on May 22 put a momentary but expensive dent in their availability.

The hailstorm damaged ripened strawberries, making them unfit for market.

Three counties -- Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem -- received a disaster declaration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the crop losses sustained there. And another three counties -- Atlantic, Camden and Cape May -- were granted what is called contiguous disaster designation.

The designations, announced in a letter from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Gov. Chris Christie, allows affected farmers to apply for a variety of aid programs.

But fear not, strawberry lovers. The fruit is back on the stands, as another round is ripening.

"Harvesting good quality Chandler variety berries in light to quickly decreasing volume as warmer weather hastens the demise of the season," says the state Jersey Fresh availability report.

Farms to the north will have strawberries for another week.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/