NORTH CAROLINA -- After a cold, long, winter, strawberries are finally ripening on farms across the state.

North Carolina produces millions of pounds of berries every year, from all 100 counties.

Farmers in the Triad say they had to cover their berry crop multiple times this winter during frost warnings, but they're still hopeful for a successful season.

James Kenan, Co-owner of Bernie's Berries in Greensboro, said, "We hope to have berries until at least the first week of June. We've got a lot of open blooms rigth now, and from open bloom to ripe strawberry is roughly 30 days. Hopefully it'll be a long season. And a long season depends on two factors, no rain, and no excess heat. 90 degrees they start shutting down.""

Farmers harvest about 15,000 pounds of strawberries per acre in North Carolina.

There are 1,200 acres of strawberries across the state.