It’s hard farming, it’s a big gamble. Spring is always a tricky time for vegetables, but this year more so than previous years. The rain has made our State beautifully green, but it has kept us from planting. Vegetables we should be harvesting are just beginning to grow. Moreover it has caused a lot of damage; you will see it on your strawberries this week. We have all been taught to expect perfect and beautiful produce. That’s what it looks like in stores. But I also know what much of it looks like in the fields, and this standard we hold for external beauty means a lot of food goes to waste.
So yes, the strawberries are not perfect, some have a bit of browning. The choice we made this week was to send them anyway. The fact is we need to get the strawberries off the plants. If we just leave fruit it will slow berry production down over the next few weeks, plus as the berries decompose it can invite disease. So they have to get picked, and it would be a shame to waste them.
Nigel and I have been eating strawberries just about every day; blended up in his Budwig Cream, and they are pretty darned tasty. It is very early in our season, so they don’t have the sweetness we get in the summer time, but the strawberry flavor is great. My recommendation is take these strawberries and use them in smoothies, or freeze them and use them in freezer jam. Cook them up and make strawberry compote and enjoy on oats or with some plain yogurt, or better yet, over vanilla pudding (my personal favorite)!