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How to Pick Strawberries

Strawberries look better and keep longer when they are picked and handled correctly. Because they are a very tender fruit, they will bruise and discolor any time they are squeezed. Handle them gently, at all times, whether you are picking them, placing them in the container, or handling the filled containers. The surest way to pick fruit with a minimum of bruising is as follows:

Grasp the stem just above the berry between the forefinger and the thumbnail and pull with a slight twisting motion.
With the stem broken about one-half inch from the berry, allow it to roll into the palm of your hand.
Repeat these operations using both hands until each holds 3 or 4 berries.
Carefully place - don't throw - the fruit into your containers. Repeat the picking process with both hands.
Don't overfill your containers or try to pack the berries down.

Other Tips for Strawberry Pickers

Whether you pick strawberries from your own garden or at a Pick-Your-Own farm, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Be careful that your feet and knees do not damage plants or fruit in or along the edge of the row.
At the farm, it is important you pick only on the row assigned to you.
If you use your own container, remember that heaping strawberries more than 12 cm (5 inches) deep will bruise the lower berries.
Pick only the berries that are fully red.
Part the leaves with your hands to look for hidden berries ready for harvest.
Pick the row clean. Remove from the plants berries showing rot, sunburn, insect injury, or other defects and place them between the rows behind you.

Tips for Storing Strawberries

Berries to be used immediately may be picked any time, but if you plan to hold the fruit for a few days, try to pick in the early morning or on cool, cloudy days. Berries picked during the heat of the day become soft, are easily bruised, and will not keep well.
Avoid placing the picked berries in the sun any longer than necessary. It is better to put them in the shade of a tree or shed than in the car trunk or on the car seat.
Cool them as soon as possible after picking. Strawberries may be kept fresh in the refrigerator for 3 or more days, depending upon the initial quality of the berry. After a few days in storage, however, the fruit loses its bright color and fresh flavor and tends to shrivel.
When you get them home, sort but do not clean them until just before you use them.
Store the berries uncovered in the refrigerator in a shallow container.
When ready to use, wash them quickly in cold water. Do not let them soak. Drain them well before you hull them. It's best to use your strawberries within three days.



What's On:  Berry Farms

ONGOING

Strawberries - A Rose by another name?

June is upon us and that can only mean one thing. All across southern Ontario, the heartier among us are breaking out the sunscreen, bug juice and floppy hats for what many consider the official start of summer - pick your own berries season.

Arguably the most fragrant of the summer berries, the strawberry is actually part of the rose family (along with apples and plums) and belongs to the genus Fragraria (Latin for fragrant.) While they may smell as sweet, however, their situation on bushes that grow close to the ground in the full heat of the sun makes harvesting them a definite labour of love.

For those of you who’ve never done it, strawberry picking is not a walk in the park. Ask anyone who’s spent a morning hunched over a berry bush with the sun beating down on their neck and they’ll tell you. Spending a little more to buy them at the gate is certainly the easier and less arduous option. But devotees of this annual pastime swear that the rewards completely outweigh the effort.

Not only do you save money by harvesting the fruit yourself, berry pickers describe falling into a kind of summer trance while they’re working. There’s an ancient rhythm to be found in the systematic picking on hands and knees, a sense of bliss made up of the smell of the berries, the buzzing of the bees and the warmth of the sun. Above all, anyone who’s ever picked a still-warm berry and popped it in their mouth agrees. There is no taste like it in the world. Like food cooked on an open fire, berries you’ve picked yourself just taste better somehow.

So if you’ve never picked your own, why not give it a try this year? Don’t know how? Take a look at our "How to Pick Strawberries" sidebar for all the tricks of the trade. Don’t know where to go? That’s easy. Just keep reading for a list of pick your own berry farms found right here in the Kawarthas. Don’t know when to go? That’s always the tricky part. Due to the colder spring in 2005, it looks as though berry picking season is going to get going around here about the 25th of June and peak in early July. Crop conditions vary year to year though so make sure you call ahead to confirm. Happy picking!


Berry Farms and Events

Caza Berry Farm

Enjoy strawberries, raspberries and more. Go north from Peterborough on Highway 507 and turn east on Deer Bay Rd. Watch for signs. Open weekdays from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call the farm at (705) 657-8888 for conditions, starting in mid-late June.

Glover's Strawberry Farm

Pick-your-own berries, located adjacent to Glover's Farm Market at 14260 County Rd. 29, Warkworth. Open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sundays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (705) 924-3640 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. for conditions.

Johnston Farms

Pre-picked and pick-your-own berries. Johnston Farms is the second farm south of Bailieboro on County Rd. 28 (10704 County Rd. 28). Open from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. on weekends. For more information and conditions call (705) 939-1737.

Little Family Farm

Pre-picked and pick-your-own berries. Located at 354 6th Line W., two miles west of Campbellford. Open 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., seven days a week. Call (705) 653-1107 for more information and picking conditions.

McLean Berry Farm

Pick-your-own and pre-picked berries, as well as home-baking, homemade jams and more. Take Hwy 507 to Curve Lake Rd. junction, 4 km south of Buckhorn, turn right and watch for signs to 2191 16th line of Smith. Pick-your-own hours are 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. The farm will open June 16. Call (705) 657-2134 for conditions.

O'Marra's Berry Farm

More than seven varieties of pick-your-own strawberries and pre-picked raspberries. Located at 1917 Stoney Lake Rd. To reach the farm, go north on Highway 28 to South Stoney Lake Rd. (County Rd. 6), then go east 15 km to Hall's Glen. O'Marra's is the last house before the church. For conditions and hours, call (705) 652-6433.

Ouse Valley Garden

A variety of strawberries on six acres. Pre-picked strawberries available upon request. Located at 2498 4th Line of Asphodel, 20 km east of Peterborough and 2 km north of Highway 7. For hours and conditions call (705) 639-5887.


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