We picked your strawberries on Monday afternoon this week. This is unusual for us as we always pick them the day before we deliver your box. As I looked at the weather report rain is forecast for Tuesday, rain would damage the berries. Lucky for us the decision was a good one as we had hail on Tuesday afternoon. Pea sized hail not the larger size that hit the farm north of us.
The first berries are always large as they have matured slowly in cooler weather. The flavor builds as we go through the season as the roots and the whole plant gets bigger. It is also our experience that planting in September gives us tastier and more berries than when we plant in October. In a few weeks the berries will be red throughout as we let them mature and ripen on the vine. If we were picking for stores, which we don’t, we would pick with the tips of the berries white, about 50% mature. The fruit would then hold well for about a week. The only way to have tasty fruit is to pick fully mature, we always recommend that you eat the berries soon, within a few days.
We will have at least a half basket for everyone this week. The season is later than normal, we hope to be up and running with full baskets of delicious berries next week.
Sign up time for the strawberry days is 3 pm on Friday. We set a time like this to make sure everyone knows when the events will be and has the same chance to get the date they want. Check the instructions with your box this week for the details of how to sign up. See you on the farm soon… Nigel.
Our pea sized hail below...
