Farmers produce strawberries in unlikeliest of regions

A farming family in the frozen Far East are struggling to cope with demand after managing to successfully grow their own luscious strawberries.

The Alexandrovs, from the village of Khomustakh in the Namsky district of Yakutia, have been selling punnets of the delicious fruit around the neighbouring community.

And it seems local people can’t get enough of their produce, with brisk sales already.

Popova Alexandra, 77, said her farmer son and his family have been planting the likes of potatoes, cucumber, tomatoes, beetroot and carrot for years.

But it was the first time they experimented with strawberries, planning 500 seedlings in the greenhouse in late March. Fertilising them just once, they watered them every day, and now their hard work has paid off.

She said: 'The strawberries bloomed earlier than expected. As a result, we gathered the first harvest on June 15. Almost every day we have been collecting about two kilograms of strawberries. The berries are large and sweet. So, the queen of the garden makes us happy with the harvest!'

Growing strawberries in the Sakha Republic is not easy, given the long cold winter and the prevalence of permafrost.

Dinara Aleksandrova, the farmer's wife, posted images of their strawberries on her Insta along with pictures of her children gathering – and eating – them.