Insider staff
When it comes to strawberry picking, you have to get low to the ground to find the good ones.
Unlike apples and blueberries, strawberries make you work a little. They don’t sit out there in plain sight just waiting for you to grab and toss in your bucket. It’s a lot of bending and kneeling, moving away leaves in search of that distinct shade of red. You know what I mean.
Sometimes you see it and the berry is perfect, other times it’s what I’d refer to as fool’s gold because the top may be the right shade of red, but the bottom is still pink – just not quite ready to pick.
That’s just how early season picking goes sometimes. But I kind of expected it on my trip to Rossview Farm last week for a little pick-your-own strawberry action. Rossview (85 District 5 Road) had only been open for a handful of days, and it’s really early in the season, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t take home three full quarts of the sweet-smelling fruit.
By the time you read this, you probably won’t have any problem filling your quarts, buckets or boxes with lots of bright red deliciousness.
In order to spread the tasty word about strawberry picking, I had to go on the early side. The season is a relatively short one, going from last week till anywhere from July 10-15. And if you’re looking to pick during prime time, when the berries are perfect, Don Ross of Rossview Farm suggested between the time of the Strawberry Moon, which was this past Monday, to the Fourth of July. But as I found out last week, you can go just about anytime because the strawberries are delicious.
Rossview opens daily at 7 a.m., assuming there’s enough ripened strawberries to pick. They have three backbone varieties, as Ross calls it, with an early, mid and late season crop. I picked what is call cavendish and they didn’t last long. Not in terms of freshness, but rather that we couldn’t stop eating them.
There’s about 5 ½ acres of strawberries to pick this year, but if you don’t want to pick your own, Rossview sells them by the quart.
Strawberries are $2.65 a pound for pick your own and Rossview takes cash or a check, but it’s got to be over $10 to use one.
And as Ross put it “because I’m at the mercy of Mother Nature, it’s always good to call the farm phone (228-4872) before you make the drive out.”
You can also pick your own at Apple Hill Farm (look for the strawberry signs off Mountain Road). They’re open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon, for picking. They also sell them at the farm stand.
If you’re keeping track at home, you’d probably say this is our most delicious go try it yet. But you’ll have to pick your own to know for sure.
