Jams and preserves, shortcakes and pies.
Head out to a local farm and pick some home-grown strawberries. It’s prime time for those sweet gems that signify summer is here, and the U-pick fruit season is ripe.
While strawberry season is well underway at most southeast Michigan farms, it’s a mixed bag of availability and what’s offered.
Most U-pick farms are reporting acres flush with strawberries ripe for the picking.
Other farms, known for acres and acres of strawberries, report a season that is the worst they’ve ever seen. According to a Facebook post, Middleton Berry Farm in Ortonville didn’t open for U-pick strawberries because its crop suffered “catastrophic” damage.
But first, there is good news on this year’s crop and where to pick local strawberries, known for their red color throughout the whole berry and sweet flesh. Derek Plotkowski, MSU fruit extension educator, said the strawberry season is in full swing, with some farms in regions open days ago and others just opening for U-pick.
“Last year we had a really warm spring that pushed everything up a little bit earlier,” Plotkowski said. “Everything is pretty close to on schedule this year, though.”
He added that the region’s warm spring temperatures followed by a cool down when things began to bloom has drawn out the strawberry season, as well as other crops.
“It could be that strawberries will be ripening over sort of a longer period,” Plotkowski said. “But usually, at a given farm, the main strawberry picking season is two to three weeks.”
In the last couple of days, Plotkowski said, orchards and farms in Romeo U-pick started, while if you go further north, some farms might not have started.
“But you’re able to get Michigan strawberries,” he said. “You can go to farm markets or farmers markets and farm stands. Many places will carry them already picked, but U-pick is open.”
While there is variation within the region, Plotkowski said farms he’s spoken with in the south of the Detroit area have had some issues with ripening and lower yields.
“But it’s definitely the time of year to get out,” he said. “People should be looking now to their favorite strawberry farms to see if and when they’re going to be open, because most of them will be open now.”
Sweet and tart cherries are up next after strawberries, Plotwoski said, followed by blueberries.
In case you’re heading up to northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula and want to pick strawberries, Plotkowski suggests you check out michiganfarmfun.com. There you will find a map of U-pick strawberry farms across the entire state and U-pick tips.
Red and ripe for picking
Westview Orchards and Winery in Washington Township opened for its first day of U-pick strawberries Wednesday, June 11.
Katrina Roy, sixth-generation co-owner of the more than 200-year-old family farm with sister Abby Jacobson, said the season seems late because last year it was 10 days early.
In addition to U-pick, Roy said Westview has “heaping quarts of ready-picked strawberries.”
“The freshness … there’s no comparison,” she said. “Our berries will keep 4-5 days in the fridge, unwashed. Keep them cold and dry.”
Westview has more than 10 acres of strawberries for U-pick. Unlike farms south of Detroit, Roy chalks this season up as a normal one.
“We have the breeze here and didn’t have those frost nights,” Roy said. “We have the rolling hills, that airflow and that movement (of air).”
Roy said they will be picking strawberries through next weekend, and also sell ready-picked quarts and flats of strawberries.
“It’s a time to enjoy the strawberries and the fun stuff you can make with them,” Roy said.” It’s a great time for folks who want to freeze and preserve.”
And if you don’t have the time right now to make jams or preserves, Roy said to get the berries now and “freeze them to make your jam later.”
Westview also offers a complimentary wagon ride to the fields, petting farm, playground and straw mountain that kids can climb.
Hit and miss pickings
Once Michigan strawberry season is underway, Marilyn Whittaker, owner of Whittaker’s Berry Farm in Ida along with her husband Bill, typically has the family’s more than 10 acres of strawberries open for U-pick.
But not this year. Whittaker said so far this season they’ve opened only one day to offer pick-your-own strawberries.
She can’t predict what the next few weeks will bring.
“We’ve been doing this for 20 years and it’s the worst we’ve ever had,” Whittaker told the Free Press.
In normal years, the farm, about 20 miles north of the Michigan-Ohio border, primarily offers strawberry u-pick – the farm’s bread and butter. But this year Whittaker’s will mainly have pre-picked strawberries.
“The weather had a huge effect from renovation last year.”
Some nights, Whittaker said, ground temps were in the 30’s.
“We’ve been fortunate that we’ve never had a year like this before,” she said.
Renovation refers to what they do to the crop once the strawberry season is over, Whittaker said, and is crucial to how they come back for the next year’s crop. After the season is over, “we go through the rows and chop down the plants to 2 inches in height and 6 inches in width,” Whittaker explained.
But last summer, Whittaker said, was dry with a lot of excessive heat and periods of drought.
“(The strawberry plants) just never came back as they should with renovation going into the fall,” she said.
For now, Whittaker is taking it one day at a time.
“It’s nine months of work for a three-week harvest,” Whittaker said. “The stars have to align perfectly for a good yield, good weather and the harvest to get people out. Timing is key.”
A Sunday email indicated that Whittaker’s would be open on Monday, June 16.
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At Ypsilanti’s Rowe’s Produce Farm, a Facebook post said its strawberries had a “tough time growing since renovation last July. Then the winter was not kind either.”
Rowe’s explained in its post that there are berries, though its picking will not be the “picking we normally have.”
“It is going to be a very difficult season to make plans,” the post read.
The farm, which typically offers more than 20 acres of strawberries for picking, will be open some days and will need to assess when to open next.
“It is the worst crop of berries I ever had,” owner Mark Girard told the Free Press on Saturday. “I can’t explain it.”
Girard, like Whittaker’s Berry Farm, also said his fields of strawberries had a tough time after renovation.
“We mow them down, cultivate, spray for weeds, fertilize and they grow all summer to set the fruit in the fall,” Girard said. “It was not a good-looking crop going into the fall and it didn’t get any better going into the winter.”
Girard said it was also warm too early in March and the strawberries started growing and then there was a freeze.
Over the years, Girard has amassed more 10,000 emails for a mailing list and has more than that number of Facebook followers.
“I feel bad for people who are used to coming to us for picking strawberries all the time,” Girard said. “I don’t like disappointing people. “
Because of the yield of strawberries at Rowe’s, Girard lowered his prices.
Rowe’s strawberries are $2.50 per pound for U-pick, with containers furnished for free.
Along with strawberries, sugar snap and English peas will be available for U-pick within the next week.
Where to pick strawberries in metro Detroit
Here’s where to pick strawberries in metro Detroit. Its important to call the farms or check websites and social media for updates on availability, hours and picking conditions.
Blake’s Backyard, 5590 Van Dyke, Almont. 810-798-3251 or blakefarms.com.
Blake’s Big Apple Orchard, 71485 North Ave., Armada. 586-784-9710 or blakefarms.com/bigapple.
Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill, 17985 Armada Center Road, Armada. Coming up Saturday and Sunday is Blake’s Strawberry Festival. 586-784-5343 or blakefarms.com/orchard-cider-mill/.
Diederich’s Strawberry Farm, 3537 Morrice Road, Webberville. 517-521-4667.
Rowe’s Produce Farm, 10570 Martz, Ypsilanti. 734-482-8538 or rowesproducefarm.com.
Slow Farm, 4700 Whitmore Lake Road, Ann Arbor. This farm, according to its website, has certified organic strawberries and is a few miles north of downtown Ann Arbor. For information slowfarmorganic.com or email slowfarmorganic@gmail.com.
Spicer Orchards, 10411 Clyde, Fenton. 810-632-7692 or spicerorchards.com.
Verellen Orchards & Cider Mill, 63260 Van Dyke, Washington Township. 586-752-2989 or verellenorchards.com.
Westview Orchards & Winery, 65075 Van Dyke, Washington. 586-752-3123 or westvieworchards.com.
Whittaker’s Berry Farm, 6724 Todd, Ida. 734-269-6612 or whittakersberryfarm.com
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Strawberry U-pick season underway in southeast Michigan, with hit and miss yields
Reporting by Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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