Bumper Crop On Tap For Strawberries

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A warm spring and plenty of rain means a bumper crop of strawberries – and they'll be ready in a week or two.

Nancy Jacobson of Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake describes what to expect in her strawberry fields.

"We provide free containers," she said. "They're nice shallow-based, waxed cardboard boxes -- perfect for storing them. (Pickers) hop on the wagon, they ride out to the field, they hop off and someone tells them how to pick, (and) gives them some suggestions."

She adds that more than just a few berries get eaten in the field while customers pick.

"You have to do a little taste test and a little sampling as you go," Jacobson said.

Bill Jacobson's tips for picking including making sure berries don't have white tips, and that customers take the stem, cap and everything when they pluck the fruit.

"We want the customers to push the foliage around, and make sure that the red ones hiding in the center aren't overlooked," Bill Jacobson said.

While some varieties of strawberries will be ready in a week or so, other varieties will still be ripening around July 4.