An ode — and guide — to the sweetest season
There’s only one true indicator that summer has arrived: freshly picked strawberries — like, freshly picked a few seconds ago.
Every so often your fingers sink into a mushy spot, but failure makes success sweeter. No two strawberries ever look alike, and they can be downright wacky. “That is the craziest strawberry I’ve ever seen,” you tell a friend a row over. Every year there are berries shaped like cat paws, scrunchies, kidney beans, baby hands and the occasional caboose. Some have little hats.
My mother took me strawberry picking every year of my childhood. We started early in the day, following hand-painted signs to the fields, where we spent a few hours reaching into the tangle of stems and drawing out juicy berries. I felt like a bear cub.
In the afternoon, we simmered the harvest into jam, which my mother canned in Mason jars and packed away for toast and peanut butter sandwiches. Just before dinner, she turned to the day’s final project: scratch biscuits, whipped cream and strawberries macerated in sugar, piled for a shortcake.
June is prime strawberry season, and maybe the first 10 days of July. Here are a few local farms where you can have your own strawberry day.
30 Frozen Ridge Road, Newburgh
Drive: 18 minutes from Beacon, 26 minutes from Cold Spring
Open daily, 9 a.m. — 4 p.m.
lawrencefarmsorchards.org
This was where I did most of my childhood picking. You don’t need a reservation (although you can make one online) but there is an entry fee of $7 per person on weekdays and $10 per person on weekends and holidays. The orchards also have picnic tables, horses, goats and a duck pond. When you’re done picking and petting, wash your hands, grab an ice cream cone at the farm store and hang out in Little Village, a miniature town square. I loved frolicking in the schoolhouse and playing mail carrier at the world’s smallest post office.
9 Fishkill Farm Road, Hopewell Junction
Drive: 18 minutes from Beacon, 22 minutes from Cold Spring
Open daily except Monday, 9 a.m. — 5 p.m.
fishkillfarms.com
This is one of the few farms in New York state where the strawberries are certified organic. You don’t need a reservation to visit the farm store, grill or Treasury Cider Bar, but you will need one for picking, which starts at $32 for up to five people and 2 quarts. (Additional quarts are $10 each.) The farm posts reservation slots a few days ahead of time, e.g., on Thursday for the weekend.
209 Perkinsville Road, Highland
Drive: 28 minutes from Beacon, 37 minutes from Cold Spring
Open daily, 10 a.m. — 5 p.m.
duboisfarms.com
This is where I had one of my most memorable picking experiences. A worker took us to the fields on a tractor, dropping us at the edge of a beautiful little field with a view of the hills covered in mist. I spent the next hour filling my basket with berries, peace and love. The farm has a pizzeria, bakery and ice cream shop, not to mention a tavern serving beer, wine and hard cider. Dubois also has a tiny township for the kids to enjoy.
If visiting the source isn’t your thing, many local retailers sell fresh strawberries, including the Glynwood Farm store and Vera’s Marketplace in Philipstown; Breezy Hill Orchard and Liberty Orchard at the Cold Spring Farmers Market on Saturdays; and Field and Larder and Wright’s Farm at the Beacon Farmers Market on Sundays.
