Strawberry Picking

It's time to get your strawberries! We went this week and they were plentiful and delicious. You have until June, but we always go in May. You may not save a ton of money - we paid $12.00 per gallon. I weighed the gallon buckets, and they weighed about 6 lbs. So it works out to roughly $2.00 for 16 oz., which would be a good price at the grocery store.

But these strawberries are so much better than the ones trucked in from California, and it's fun to go with kids. The farms I've been to don't mind when children eat as they pick. I've taken the boys since they were babies. We have a tradition in our family to have strawberry shortcake for dinner the night we pick strawberries - that's definitely something the boys remember from year to year!

I make lots of freezer jam with the rest of the strawberries. I try to make enough to last until the next year, but I haven't quite made it yet.

You can search here to find a strawberry patch near you. We've been to two different farms and like them both.

Dahlonega Vegetable Farm is my favorite. It's the closest one to us. Surrounded by mountains and bordered by a creek, the location is lovely. They don't have a website (!), but here is the address and phone number: 2650 Highway 19
Dahlonega, GA 30533;(706) 867-9794.

Washington Farms
The berries here are more affordable - $10 per gallon. They have a very helpful website that you can reach by clicking the name above. We've always gone to their Loganville location, but they have a smaller farm in Watkinsville as well. They are open 8:00-8:oo and closed on Sundays, but on beautiful days, they may be pretty picked out by early afternoon, so you may want to call first.

Good to know: I have some very important caveats about strawberry picking. 1. Always call first to be sure they have abundant berries. 2. Drought years produce better berries than rainy years. 3. Most farms only take checks or cash. 4. If you don't want to pay $1 for buckets, bring your own or at least bring tupperware to transfer your berries into for the ride home.