Now that strawberry picking season is just around the corner (and should last through the first two weeks of July), here’s some picking and storing tips!
- Always pick the berries with the stem on.
- Pick all the red ripe fruit, both large and small — look under the leaves, they like to hide!
- Leave bad fruit in the row for our staff to clean. (Did you ever notice how they walk around with ice cream buckets?) This helps reduce disease.
- Handle fruit gently, don’t overfill your flat so you don’t bruise the berries on the bottom.
- Refrigerate berries as soon as possible. If you can’t get them home right away, make sure to keep them out of direct sunlight.
- Don’t wash them until you are ready to use them. Fresh berries will keep 2-3 days.
Here’s an easy way to hull berries we discovered that really reduces your processing time! Use a metal teaspoon from your measuring set and remove the stem with a flick of your wrist.
