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Picking Tips - Strawberries and More - University of Illinois Extension
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Picking Tips

Midwestern strawberries peak during June. Illinois crops are ready at various times of the month depending on which part of the state you are located. In order to produce good local strawberries, producers depend on ideal spring weather conditions.

Pick Your Own

  • U-pick strawberry farms sell berries by the pound. A quart equals 1 1/2 pounds of fresh berries.

  • Do the math and be careful not to over purchase as strawberries quickly mold when left at room temperature.

  • Select plump, firm, fully red berries. The small berries are often most flavorful.

Picking Tips

  1. Grasp the stem just above the berry between the forefinger and the thumbnail and pull with a slight twisting motion.

  2. With the stem broken about one-half inch from the berry, allow it to roll into the palm of your hand.

  3. Repeat these operations using both hands until each holds 3 or 4 berries.

  4. Carefully place - don't throw - the fruit into your containers. Repeat the picking process with both hands.

  5. Don't overfill your containers or try to pack the berries down.

More Picking Tips

Whether you pick strawberries from your garden or at a Pick-Your-Own farm, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  1. Be careful that your feet and knees do not damage plants or fruit in or along the edge of the row. At a Pick-Your-Own farm, it is important that you pick only on the row assigned to you.

  2. Most growers furnish picking containers designed for strawberries. If you use your own container, remember that heaping strawberries more than 5 inches deep will bruise the lower berries.

  3. Pick only the berries that are fully red. Part the leaves with your hands to look for hidden berries ready for harvest.

  4. Pick the row clean. Remove from the plants berries showing rot, sunburn, insect injury or other defects and place them between the rows behind you.

  5. Berries to be used immediately may be picked any time, but if you plan to hold the fruit for a few days, try to pick in the early morning or on cool, cloudy days. Berries picked during the heat of the day become soft, are easily bruised and will not keep well.

  6. Avoid placing the picked berries in the sun any longer than necessary. It is better to put them in the shade of a tree or shed than in the car trunk or on the car seat. Cool them as soon as possible after picking. Strawberries may be kept fresh in the refrigerator for three or more days, depending upon the initial quality of the berry. After a few days in storage, however, the fruit loses its bright color and fresh flavor and tends to shrivel.