Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More

Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts.

Please enter a valid zipcode.

DOVER, Fla. — Parkesdale Farms, widely known for its strawberries, is saying goodbye to one of its transitionary crops, the Parkesdale pickle.

The pickle growing season is over, and now the farm is working to package and ship its final crop after 30 years of production.

“It's a hard thing for me to let go,” said Matt Parke with Parkesdale Farms. “But you know, my father, he was really upset about it because he built this with Ken Andrews, a salesman that retired. And my mom, you know, she was upset, you know tears, but we had to make that decision to better ourselves."

Parke says the Parkesdale Pickle was brought to life in 1992, when he was just 9 years old.

He has memories of working on the pickle line and the hard work of his family to grow its pickle business into a 300,000 box operation every growing season.

"I've had a lot of blood, sweat and tears put into this machine,” Parke said, standing next to the same pickle grader that he worked as a child. “A lot of time. A lot of memories. A lot of friendships."

In the Parkesdale Farms packaging house this week, about two dozen workers were packing the final pickles from Parkesdale, with destinations to big chain stores across the country.

Sam Harrison with Pexco produce and sales says competition from farms in Mexico that have cheaper labor and government subsidies are becoming difficult for U.S. farmers to compete with.

“It's not just pickles, it's every Florida item has been affected by it,” Harrison said. “And I just don't see it getting any better."

With pickles now being retired at Parkesdale Farms, Parke says the farm will soon welcome a new commodity.  

Parkesdale is currently working on a three-acre Blackberry field and, if the crop is successful, the farm plans to expand that operation early next year.