Pick Your Own Strawberry Picking Tips
Thinking about picking your own berries this year? We’ve got tips all of the tips if you are headed to pick your own strawberries! The sun is shining and the kids are out of school and it is strawberry season!
Pick Your Own Strawberry Picking Tips
Before we started growing our own strawberries, one of my favorite activities to do in the summer was to head to our local U-Pick Berry Farm!
We would come home with piles of bright red, juicy, delicious berries just ready for making jam, strawberry shortcake and for topping with whip cream.
Picking your own berries is a fun family activity and is a great way to stock the freezer with yummy berries, plus it can save you quite a bit of money if you use strawberries often. We love berries around here (and I love to freeze them!) … you can never, ever, ever have too many berries!
Here are 6 Strawberry Picking Tips for things to do before you go to the berry farm:
1. Call Ahead
It’s important to call ahead before you head out to the farm.
You will want to ask about the crop. Strawberries are delicate and can be affected by weather more than most other crops.
You will also want to know how busy they are. It’s also important to find out if they are cash only or if they accept credit cards.
2. Get There Early
There is nothing worse than getting to the berry field than to find it already picked. Make sure if you can you head out early. This is really important if you go on the weekends.
3. Bring Your Own Containers
When you call ahead to the berry farm you will also want to ask about containers.
Most will furnish buckets to put your strawberries in, but they may charge you.
Bringing your own containers can also be handy since you can pick them, store them and avoid having to handle them too much.
4. Bring The Right Kind of Containers
Deep containers are not necessarily the best. You shouldn’t stack berries more than 5 inches.
Containers more than five inches could result in bruised berries. I like to bring containers that have lids so I don’t have to worry about loose berries in the car. These containers are inexpensive and do a great job. Plus, after you get them home the are perfect for the freezer.
More Strawberry Picking Tips for Making Your Adventure Enjoyable
5. Drinks & Snacks
Picking berries in the sun is a great way to work up a sweat. You will want to make sure that you have drinks with you. Snacks are also a great idea, otherwise you may find yourself tempted to eat all the strawberries.
Since it is warm, a small lunchbox or cooler is perfect for bringing with you to keep your drinks cool.
6. Don’t Forget Sun Protection
The sun is bright! Being out in the sun without proper sun protection can be dangerous.
Make sure that you bring with you hats, sunglasses and sunscreen. I’ve also seen moms bring umbrellas for their little ones out to the farm.
You may also want to bring bug spray. In my experience, the bugs have been minimal, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
More Strawberry Picking Tips and our Favorite Strawberry Picking Tools:
Here are a few of my favorite strawberry products that we use to help us:
Chefn’ Stem Gem Strawberry Huller – This little tool is perfect for quickly hulling strawberries! Before you freeze strawberries you will want to make sure that they are hulled!
We have this Strawberry Fold Up Shopping Bag which might be fun to take along, a great bag to go along with your strawberry picking theme. It folds up so it is easy to bring with you. Plus, it’s adorable!
Quickly slice strawberries with this strawberry slicer! I like it because I can hand it to the kids to have them help in the kitchen!
If you don’t want to bring plastic containers with you to the berry farm you can always pick up a pack of actual berry containers!
Very inexpensive and a great way to store berries both at home and at the berry patch, these strawberry containers are so good!
Now that you have picked all of your berries, make sure to check out my round up of 50 Sweet Strawberry Recipes, where you are guaranteed to find some great ways to utilize your pickings!
If you grow your own, make sure to check out my post about what saved our strawberry patch this year!
Favorite Strawberry Recipes
Don’t forget to check out my favorite strawberry recipes, especially these yummy homemade fresh strawberry mini pies, they are a family favorite and always a tradition after a nice strawberry harvest! And, if you have more berry picking to do, make sure to check out my Mixed Berry Tart recipe, it’s so good and quite easy to make!
Meet the author – Keri Lyn
The creative and frugal mind behind She Saved for over 12 years now, Keri Lyn shares her adventures in parenting along with her love for family travel, country living and brand marketing. A self-proclaimed “brand loyalist”, Keri Lyn is known for her strong and enthusiastic voice when it comes to the products and brands that she loves. She Saved has become a community for like-minded consumers who appreciate saving money, time and sanity by getting the best deals on quality products and experiences.
