Picking Strawberries

Strawberries are ready at some of the farms on Green Bluff in Spokane (and hopefully where you are as well). Strawberry season is one of my favorite points of summer. There is nothing quite like the goodness that comes from fresh, fully ripe berries. Grocery store berries are simply not the same—all pale on the inside and tasteless all over. Blech.

Ethan and I picked berries at Siemers' Farm this Sunday morning, continuing our tradition of picking berries on an early summer morning with a cup of coffee. It's one of my favorite days of summer. 

My tips for picking berries:

1. Plan on picking after a couple of good sunny days. Sun is crucial for ripening and sweetening berries. If days have been gray during picking season, wait it out. Sunshine is necessary to develop the sugars in the berries.
2. Check with the farm. Call or check their website. You want to go on a day when berries are ready. I’ve found that Green Bluff farmers are very good about updating messages on the Fresh on the Bluff page so that you know what is ripe when. We’ve lucked out two years in a row, picking in a field on its first open day. Berries dripping off the plants make for quick work.
3. Get to the farm early. Strawberry season is a hot season, so picking in the cool of morning is MUCH more pleasant than a hot afternoon. Get yourself a coffee on the way if you need, bring water, and sunscreen for protection.
4. Bring cash. Many farms don’t take credit cards because the fees for a small business can be steep (this is one way they keep prices down). Prevent frustration by bringing cash with you.
5. Only pick the brightest, reddest, shiniest berries. Strawberries do not ripen any further after picking; so only choose those that look like storybook strawberries. (This is also crucial information for choosing berries in the store if you’re not picking them yourself). In the fields, farmers want you to pick only the ripe berries. They want you to get the best product, and they want the pickers who follow you to have ripe berries to add to their boxes later that week. If you pick under ripe berries, the ripe ones will likely rot on the plant and never be enjoyed—that’s not good for anyone.
6. Along with #5, also be careful not to pick bruised, damaged, or moldy berries. These ones will just leak all over your good berries and reduce the already limited shelf life of the whole box.
7. Move the plants around (gently) as you pick. There are often ripe, delicious berries toward the middle of the plant or hidden under leaves. You don’t want to miss them.
8. Don’t dismiss the small red berries. Small berries are often the most flavorful, in fact.
9. Plan your intake wisely. You want to only pick the berries you will use within two or three days of picking. If your berries are the ripest, red-through-the-middle berries, they won’t last much beyond three days after picking. (My 20 pounds this weekend was ambitious, but most of them have already been used or in the process of becoming jam—whew).
10. Bring a friend. The peace of the fields is wonderful in the morning, but it’s nice to have a friend in a nearby row.
11. Taste a berry or two in the field. Make sure they’re sweet and juicy. Don’t eat the farm out of business, but tasting is okay—and there’s nothing quite like tasting a couple of berries in the field on a dewy morning.

What fresh fruit are you picking this year? What do you plan on doing with it? These are things I need to know.

Coming soon: A post about what I did with 20 pounds of strawberries (other than grabbing handfuls from the boxes, rinsing them under the tap and eating them a la carte).