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For those who love to head out with a basket or a bucket and pick their own just-ripened strawberries to take home, the time is now.

The strawberry season is only expected to last another couple of weeks, but there are still plenty of berries ripe for the plucking at Washington County you-pick locations.

In some areas, heavy rain has meant the strawberries have ripened more quickly, bringing a quicker-than-normal end to the season, but local growers say they've been lucky so far.

"The rain's been going right around us," said Randy Wagner, owner of R&K Wagner Farms in Lowell. "We're in good shape. I've actually been watering mine."

At Stacy's Family Farm in Oak Grove, customers are in their sixth week of picking their own strawberries, with only one thing that can determine when the activity will stop for the season.

"It all depends on Mother Nature," said owner Janet Stacy. "As long as we have red berries, people can pick. It will depend on the weather because strawberries are pretty sensitive."

Stacy said the farm has had a normal, healthy strawberry season with recent heavy rain not causing a problem.

"We've had lots of people who are pleased with what they're picking," she said. "We've done well with the rain with the soil types we have."

Beth Schaad, of Marietta, who was picking strawberries Friday, said it's an annual tradition she wouldn't miss.

"I come every year to one of the farms to pick, a few times," she said. "It's fun to be outside and do it yourself, and the berries are really good. They'll be in my cereal tomorrow."

While the strawberries at R&K Wagner Farms are at their peak now, within a couple of weeks there will be even more you-pick options, Wagner said.

Red raspberries are nearly ripe now and black raspberries will be within the next week or two, he said. Blueberries will be ready for picking around the first of July.

"All the fruits are a big draw," Wagner said. "People will pick up vegetables here on the side, but they come for the fruit."