Photo by Julia Brown

Summertime is berry season in southeast Ohio, so now's the perfect time to experience a fun, firsthand connection to local agriculture. Stacy Family Farm, an Ohio century farm located along the Muskingham River in Marietta, offers 5 acres of ripe, red pick-your-own strawberries to the southeast Ohio community. In order to get the most out of the pick-your own experience, here are a few tips for picking, handling, keeping and preparing the strawberries – whether for a snack straight from the patch, or a summer treat concocted in your own kitchen.

Picking
Proper picking technique involves parting the leaves with your hands, and picking the berries that are fully red. Janet Stacy, co-owner of Stacy Family Farm and wife to Bill Stacy, says that the best berries to pick are the reddest and firmest in the patch. “My best advice for picking a berry, is you pick one and you think it’s ripe, you pick it, you taste it. If it’s good, you picked the right berry,” she says. “If it’s sour, then you need to pick something a little redder.” Although the Stacy family maintains that people should wash food before eating, they would never stop someone from eating in the fields – especially the little ones.
 

Photo by Julia Brown

Handling
In order to help prevent the berries from being bruised, and for an easier transportation home, make sure to bring your own containers for picking. Ice cream buckets with handles are offered at the farm first-come-first-serve, but they can run out quickly depending on the crowd. The best homemade containers include Tupperware bowls and shallow, cardboard boxes. Normal picking hours at the farm are from 7am to 7pm, but the berries are often affected by the weather, so always call ahead or check the farm’s website ahead of time.

Keeping
In order to retain the strawberries’ sweet flavor, picking during the coolest part of the day is best, especially when planning on using the berries immediately. The produce will keep longer when picked during cooler weather. When picked during high heat times of the day, the strawberries will turn soft and become easily bruised. On the upside, these softer berries are perfect for concocting jams and jellies.

Preparing
Finally, in terms of keeping and preparing the berries, it’s important to remember NOT to wash them until you’re 100% ready to use them. The strawberries are more prone to spoiling in the refrigerator if prematurely washed, so if you won’t be using them right away, simply place your supply in the fridge. For frozen snacks - or anything you might want to make at a significantly later date – wash the berries, cut the green caps off, and freeze.

Check out the step-by-step video tutorial below for instructions on how to make Stacy Family Farm’s strawberry salsa. And for more tasty strawberry treats, check out the Stacy Family Farm’s website. Happy picking and eating!