Tomato plants grown from seed in the greenhouses of Intsu farm in Põlva County last December would have needed more sunlight to produce an early harvest, but now there is more light and heat and the tomatoes are ripening well.

"This year it was almost May, usually we have our first harvest in mid-April, for example, both small and large tomatoes around April 20," said Voldemar Kamenik, the owner of Intsu farm.

The first strawberries are ready at the Joosepi farm in Ahja and will soon reach the markets in Tartu and Tallinn.

"The weather has been very inconsistent, we have had to do a lot of heating to get the strawberries ready. But for now, it's okay, we can't complain, we're working on getting the strawberries on the table," Ranet Roositalu, a young farmer at the Joosepi farm, said.

Besides strawberries, raspberries are growing on Joosepi's farm this year as well.

"Spring night frosts – we don't have to worry about these, because we have the heating on, our raspberry plants are nice and warm, no frost damage. If raspberries usually come at the end of July or the beginning of August, then when the strawberry season is over, we are now aiming for harvests raspberries earlier, at the end of May and the end of June," Roositalu said.

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