How To Pick The Best Strawberries
Did you know that North Carolina is ranked #4 for strawberry production in the United States. So when you go to the store, those strawberries are probably shipped from California. But 100% of the strawberries U-Pick at a local North Carolina farm are going to be 100% Carolina.
A family visit to Cody Strawberry Farm for fresh U-Pick strawberries.
Strawberry picking… It’s fun. It’s magical. You’ll have a great time with your family. But after you spend your afternoon under the North Carolina spring sunshine, you’re also going to have a pile of strawberries sitting on your counter ready to eat.
You grab a handful, drop them in a colander, give them a wash, and the moment of truth… does it taste good. Do you taste the sweetness? Did you pick them too early? Did you pick them too late?
Luckily strawberries have a much more forgiving range than say, an avocado which goes from ripe to rotten in about one TikTok scroll session.
Here are our tips to picking the perfect strawberry:
Bright red and uniform in color indicate ripe strawberries.
Gently touch the strawberry and notice if it’s firm all the way around. Avoid mushy spots as those have been through trauma or some kid got aggressive.
Strawberries don’t continue to ripen after they are picked so choose the ones you want to eat right away.
Give them a sniff. Ripe strawberries smell sweet and ready to eat too.
Pick the strawberry with the stem. This protects the strawberry and helps it store a little longer in the refrigerator.
Looking for the best places to pick strawberries in North Carolina? We’ve linked a couple of great guides from different North Carolina travel specialists here:
NC Eat and Play
NC Tripping
Pick Your Own
Pick from your favorite Strawberries Farms Near You.
And of course as always, we encourage you to download the Visit NC Farms app (Apple / Android) where you’ll always be able to find a great U-Pick Strawberry farm.
Dive in the app, find your closet farm, and go grab them before they are gone. Strawberries are at their peak ripeness right now. (There was a ton of rain across the state last weekend, so maybe this weekend is your weekend!)
From the Farmers
Here are some recommendations fresh from the farms.
Strawberry Jammin’ in Sanford, North Carolina (May 11-13, 2023)
Celebrate Strawberry Jammin’ in Sanford. Join us for a full weekend of all things strawberry! From events at the Sanford Farmers' Market to cocktail crawls and food strolls, Downtown Sanford is the place to celebrate the fruit of the season. This year's event will also feature Carolina Indie Fest and the Piedmont Blues Mural Dedication.
Just add strawberries to baked desserts.
We are the Peterson Family, and we have owned this farm for over a hundred years. We are committed to being good stewards of the land. We work to make this farm good for us, good for our animals, good for wildlife, and good for our farm members.
Break_Time_.mp4 from ncsheepfarmer on Vimeo.
