It’s A Berry Good Time

Posted Mar 26, 2007 by Janine Dorsey

Updated Mar 26, 2007 at 02:25 PM

I took my Girl Scout troop to pick strawberries yesterday. These are city girls of South Tampa, they had no idea about the workings of a real farm.

They learned the proper technique for removing the juicy orb without damaging the plant. They learned not to take the ones with worm holes. And they learned how the pickers get paid, a fascinating process of scanning a sticker that the worker wears each time they turn in a full flat. At least that is how this particular farm keeps track of wages.

Since we were guests at this particular location, we didn’t decimate their plants by taking a ton of fruit. But we sure would have liked to! Last night’s shortcake (berries over poundcake with vanilla ice cream) was a great reward for our “hard” labor. This morning’s fresh berries eaten plain was more compensation for our efforts.

I think we are just getting warmed up.

Click U-Pick farms for Bay area locations offering discount berries (you provide the containers and the labor).