Strawberry Perfection

Strawberry season is outstanding this year in Southeast Michigan. This morning I spent 1.5 hours at Rowe's today, and picked 35 pounds. That's nearly 12 pounds every 30 minutes. The berries were so plentiful and ripe, it was almost impossible to not find a good spot to pick. Last week's hot weather ripened up the berries, and they are at perfection right now! And if we're lucky, that perfection will last for several more weeks.

I went by myself, but I was't alone. Lots of families were out with their children. While I picked I got to enjoy other people's stories, like the mother who talked about how she has a bowl of apples, and her young daughter once took a bite out of every apple and put them back in the bowl so that the bites were not visible! Said daughter was busy eating strawberries almost faster than they could pick them.

U-Pick Strawberry Farms in SE Michigan:

•  Rowe's Produce Farm — this has been my go-to farm for strawberries for years. (Mainly because they are the closest one to me.) Get on their email list and get up-to-date announcements on crop conditions.
• Whittaker's Berry Farm — out in Monroe, past Dundee. They also have an email list.
• DeGroot's Strawberries— people on the NW side of Washenaw County may find DeGroot's more conveniently located.
• Long Family Orchard — north of Novi in Oakland county. Their strawberry season does not appear to have started yet.

Other u-pick farms in SE Michigan — pickyourown.org has a regional list of Michigan u-pick farms.

Comments

[Julie Saul]

They look beautiful! How does your back feel?

[Julie @ Pickley Pear]

Great post - I am going to pick strawberries!!

[Thelocalcook]

we finally have strawberries on the west side of the state too! I picked some up at the farmer's market this morning. Soooo good!

[Maggie]

I was so happy to see strawberries at the market today! Now I need to hunt down the best u pick up here in Traverse City. What are your plans for yours?

[Tricia]

I picked up two quarts of strawberries at the Farmer's Market this morning, but now I want to go pick my own, quarts and quarts and MORE quarts of them!

[Cynthia]

Did you make jam?

[Kitchen Chick]

I made 15 250ml jars of jam (strawberry and strawberry-lemon marmalade) and a batch of strawberry ice cream. OMG! Why haven't I done that before! Homemade strawberry ice cream is the bomb.

I have yet more strawberries to process. I want to make some balsamic strawberry jam. I froze a large number because I was going to lose them.

[Jessica]

I didn't know there was a U-Pick so close to Ann Arbor! I'm taking a class on canning/preserving foods this weekend so I'll have to stop by there after to pick my own and try out my canning skills!

Jessica

[Julie Saul]

We can vouch for the exquisite deliciousness of Lisa's strawberry-lemon marmalade and balsamic strawberry jam - each in its own way is perfection on a croissant! Haven't opened the pure strawberry yet. Thank you, Lisa!

[Kirill]

Picking strawberries just seems like a really relaxing task - it doesn't matter if you pick them alone or not. I really appreciate strawberries when they're at a state of perfection - they're just so delicious.

[vacuum sealer unlimited]

great post. You should check out the story of the founder of Haagen Dazs, Rueben something. he has an interesting story about his hunt for the perfect strawberry.

[Kate]

Do you ever go to the Belleville Strawberry Festival? It is nice day out with the family and they have all types of strawberries - yum.

Thanks for the list of U pick strawberry farms - this is a must do with the family!

[Lisa Bilotta]

Excellent and interesting post!

[Lisa]

I'm already looking forward to strawberry season!