2023 strawberry Information

Strawberry is season here. There are a few ripe berries in the field now so we are picking for the stand starting today. (We have about 50 quarts picked at the moment) We had a freeze a while back that damaged quite a few (but not all) of the earliest flowers so the season is beginning in an unusual way in that there is just a scattering of berries that are ripe now. I am going to send our own pickers out to get them as they are so scattered. The strawberries like it slightly cool and are really glad for this rain. Irrigation is not as good as rain. Hot weather ripens them faster but does not give as good of a berry.
We are opening for the first u-pick picking of the season Saturday June 17, 2023 starting at 7 am. I expect that picking conditions should be reasonable by Saturday however I will post again Friday about picking conditions when I know more. Peak season is still 7- 10 days out. Strawberry pricing for 2023 is the same as last years prices.
We will be continuing many of the changes from last year as they worked well. During busy times there will be an outside express checkout option for berries that are being bought by volume not weight.

Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 7 AM; Wednesday, starting 2 PM (no morning picking on Wednesdays); Saturday, start 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 6 PM.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart or gallon containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buy empties from us. Quart boxes 25 cents each. If you are buying empty containers from us please pay when you get them rather than after you are done picking to minimize confusion as to what is going on.
NO DOGS in the field or stand areas. We will be using the same random picking pattern that we did last year. This means that you may start anyplace you wish in the patches that are open as long as you are not cutting in front of someone. It is mandatory that when you are picking that all the ripe berries are picked as you move No roaming or grazing type picking. A section of row must either be picked or not picked when you leave. We will be scouting the patch and keep suggesting where you will find good picking.
Pricing u-pick: $4 per Quart if less than 8 quarts and $3.25 per quart if more than 8 quarts; $26 for an 8 quart tray and $12.50 for 4 liquid quart buckets, water pitchers, bowls and other similar sized containers. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2.20/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts). By using volume rather than weight when it makes sense we can bypass the stand for most of the berries and reduce congestion. If you pay by credit card there is a 3% surcharge added to the above prices and you will need to use the inside checkout station rather than outside express options. Daniel