As the world prepared to say goodbye to the 1970s, the Finger Lakes region was about to experience a red-letter day when it came to a plump, juicy staple of breakfast and picnic tables and freezers throughout the Northeast.
As the town of Richmond and its hamlet of Honeoye celebrates the Honeoye Lake Strawberry Festival on June 28, the hamlet’s namesake strawberry gets its day in the summer sun. And in 1979, it got its name from the town’s hamlet on Honeoye Lake.
Feel free to sip a strawberry daiquiri, or its mocktail version, scoop up a spoonful of strawberry shortcake, or suck down a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie and savor this piece of Finger Lakes agricultural history.
Here’s a bit more about how the Honeoye strawberry came to be.
A Holiday leads to a Honeoye
This strawberry was a hybrid of an earlier Cornell variety called the Holiday, which was first planted in 1970 by Dr. Don Ourecky, a berry breeder at Cornell AgriTech, which at the time was known as the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, according to Courtney Weber, who is a researcher at AgriTech.
Why develop a new breed?
This was an era abundant with social change and, well, Disco. But fresh strawberries really weren’t as available in the supermarket as they are today, Weber said.
This new high-yielding strawberry variety, which was named and commercialized in 1979, was considered of very high quality for the frozen fruit and jam industry of the era, Weber said in an email.
Their high yields were a bonus, and as the world embarked on the 1980s, Honeoye strawberries took off in popularity, although maybe not as much as Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince did.
A strawberry made for the Finger Lakes and beyond
The Honeoye strawberry is still widely grown throughout the temperate production areas of the country, from Minnesota to Maine and including New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“It gained some popularity in Europe, especially Poland for its high yield and quality as a frozen berry,” Weber said.
Audrey Carrier, who is one of the festival organizers, has a theory why.
Honeoye soils are among the best in the Finger Lakes, and the Honeoye strawberry is hardy, juicy and great for canning and freezing, Carrier said.
Over time, however, the variety’s popularity ebbed as newer varieties developed, and the fresh market for strawberries expanded, Weber said.
The Honeoye strawberry seemed in a jam, but a hardy fruit like this proves resilient.
A Honeoye strawberry’s assets
The Honeoye strawberry is still known for its consistent flavor and color for making jam and freezing. In light soils, the flavor is considered very good, but flavor can suffer when grown in heavier clay containing soils, Weber explained.
“That said, fresh-off-the-plant local berries tend to be superior in flavor to anything from the supermarket,” Weber said. “That’s the same everywhere for all berries.”
Try a Honeoye strawberry yourself.
Jacob Maslyn, agricultural economic development educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County, will man a table at the festival. He’s bringing 90 or so Honeoye strawberry plants that will be available for $5 each.
Don’t worry; they’re easy to grow, Maslyn promised, and they are tolerant of those oh-so-cold winters in these parts. The plants produce berries consistently well, although the flavor is somewhat tart compared to other varieties, Maslyn said. Scientific spoiler alert — that’s due to the high acid-to-sugar ratio.
“But they are strawberries, so they are, of course, delicious,” Maslyn said. “For texture, it is a very firm berry that freezes well. They are a good plant to start a strawberry patch, especially if you are a forgetful gardener like myself!”
Celebrating Honeoye strawberries and those who grow them
A goal of the Honeoye Lake Strawberry Festival is to celebrate the Honeoye strawberry, but also to celebrate the farms and growers connected to it and this small Finger Lakes community whose name it carries, said Amy Linehan, one of the festival organizers.
For 200 years, agriculture helped Honeoye grow. Perhaps the Honeoye strawberry and attention paid to it through the festival will help bring further attention to not just the agricultural community, but also the other business that shape the hamlet.
“We need a thriving and active Main Street for businesses,” Carrier said.
And they hope the festival grows along with the strawberry it’s named after.
“For us, that’s what makes it special,” Linehan said. “It’s a reminder of Honeoye’s agricultural roots and its place within the Finger Lakes growing region. The idea that a strawberry carrying our town’s name has been planted by growers across New York and throughout the Northeast is pretty remarkable.”
More about the Honeoye Lake Strawberry Festival
The Honeoye Lake Strawberry Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 28 along Main Street in Honeoye for an event that organizers said brings together businesses, visiting vendors, live music, pie and jam contest and family-friendly activities in a walkable, community-centered celebration.
For details, visit https://www.honeoyelakestrawberryfest.org/.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He can be reached at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How the ‘Honeoye’ strawberry became a garden staple
Reporting by Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | USA TODAY Network
