Connecticut doesn’t stand out as a strawberry producer. The available berries are hand picked from local farms and sold for only a couple of weeks each summer. The first time we saw a sign for them saying “Native Strawberries,” we had no idea why an indigenous variety would be for sale. But it turned out that “native” just meant locally grown as opposed to imported from Florida or California. This week we went down the road to the produce stand and bought several boxes.
California and Florida strawberries flood our markets in May and June. They are big, bright red and usually pretty tasteless. They count on sugar and whipped cream to have much flavor. Local berries, however, don’t have to withstand long rides in refrigerated trucks, so they are more fragile and much more flavorful. The cost, usually twice that of imported berries, reflects the care taken to pick them by hand and bring them in each day. They are worth it.
Oregon, where I lived for most of my life, produces great strawberries. I would drive to a local farm, buy a couple of flats of them, and make strawberry jam. Here the price precludes that possibility. I remember Oregon berries tasting even sweeter than the native ones here, though that may just be nostalgia. At any rate, our local ones are good, available, and here for a very brief time.
In just a few weeks we will taste the first corn. “Native” of course.
Saved By Words 
I was only talking about this last week. I stopped eating strawberries years ago, when imported ones became available every day of the year. They look good, but taste of nothing. However, there is a local farm (2 miles away) that has a short season of ‘Pick Your Own’ strawberries, and they are fragrant and delicious, just like they used to be.
When consumers insist on non-seasonal produce, taste is usually the first thing to be sacrificed.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have to explain to my grandchildren about seasons. Even the stuff flown in from Chile here isn’t as good.
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Local is best! My strawberries are ripening now too. 😊
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I think my bed produced only three berries this year. Enjoy some red beauties for us!
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The birds got ours.
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We are growing our own in pots, we get a graduated harvest throughout our winter & spring 😀 delicious!:-D
Bless you,
Jennifer
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Do you have those wonderful strawberry pots with lots of little spaces for the plants? I used to have one of those I bought in Mexico.
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No, just ordinary terra cotta pots, my husband has made cages over them as the birds keep getting them before we could!
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The birds also strip our pie cherry tree. We have given up and just enjoy watching them.
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Our strawberries here are also sweet but they are so expensive.
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Do they grow there or are they imported?
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I grow my own, altho we have several PYO gardens within a 20 min drive.
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What month do you pick them?
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at home, anytime from Oct to Feb. Gardens are usually in the last two weeks before Christmas. It’s fairly traditional to have pavlova & berries.
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That sounds like a lovely time to have that treat.
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Nom nom nom 🍓
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I didn’t know they called them native either. I thought the term was “local.” Anyway, home-grown or local stuff always has more flavor, for sure! We are blessed here in our village to get local, grass-fed meats, and plenty of local produce and cheese as well! Italy is into real or geniune food, which we call “genuino”!
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How lovely. I tried to find your blog, but was unsuccessful.
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Strawberries are available in the market but they are too expensive. They come from other places. Now the mango season is slowly coming to an end. Here we have plenty of jackfruits and in many places they go waste because there is no one to pluck or cut them.We use jackfruits in all the different stages.
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I am enjoying your blog.
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Thanks.
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