Strawberry-picking season underway

It’s officially strawberry-picking season in Manitoba. To tee up the short window, I paid a visit to the popular Boonstra Farms outside Stonewall.

I met with Murray Boonstra, who has been in the strawberry-picking biz for more than 20 years. The farm has around 30 acres of strawberries up for grabs, with each field bearing the name of one of his eight grandchildren.

He taught me berry-picking 101. Here are some of his tips:

• Stick to your row; the farm is opened for picking when there’s an abundance of berries. Skipping rows won’t get you more/better berries.
• Don’t pick berries that are still green or appear underripe. Even if they’re near-ripe strawberries, they need more time.
• If you’re planning to make jam out of your strawberries pick ripe, even overripe, berries.
• Get berries while the picking’s good. The average strawberry-picking season only lasts three weeks.

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If it feels like this year’s berry-picking season is late, it is. Last year Boonstra opened his fields for picking on June 25. This year’s longer winter affected the crops but it didn’t affect the quality of the berries.

In picking both kinds of berries, it might be a good idea to use that bug spray!

Hope these tips helped out. Happy picking!