Welcome back to Farm Fresh Friday! Did you see last week’s FFF?

Farmers markets and stands are fun on their own, but the ability to actually pick your food right from the plant itself just adds another exciting element.  When I visited Duffield’s, located in Sewell, NJ, I had one thing on my mind:

Strawberries.

The perfect time to pick strawberries is very short lived.  It lasts from a few weeks into May until the middle of June.  Which means that if you haven’t picked strawberries yet, you might want to hurry!!

The market part of Duffield’s has a variety of local foods to buy, where shoppers can also buy strawberries that have been picked.

But the berries that I wanted were the ones I had to work for!

There’s really something satisfying about walking through a field in search of strawberries or really any kind of produce.  It’s that moment when you lift up the bright green leaves and think, “Well that’s where they come from!”

The first glance makes you feel like you found the first Christmas present!

 

Except with strawberries, the gifts don’t end.

 

I always like finding the crazy looking berries.  And then I have a conflict of whether to pick them because I feel bad or let them be.

I suggest that for optimal berry picking capabilities you bring someone along.

   

The more people picking = more berries, more quickly!  Not to mention it is a fun activity.  This was Jay’s first time picking strawberries so it was exciting !

Here are some tips when picking strawberries:

1.) Don’t be afraid to be selective.  You are in a whole field filled with berries!  Take your time, lift the leaves and search for bright, dark, medium sized berries.

2.) Wear sneakers or beat up shoes because they will most likely get strawberries, dirt and hay on them.

3.) Wash your arms and legs off shortly after picking because the strawberry vines have small hairs that will irritate your skin.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the fruit of your labor, literally!