I grew up in Connecticut. As much as I feel it is important for a person to see other cultures and experience other places first hand to really be able to grow as a human and understand the world they live in, I do enjoy coming back to Connecticut at particular times. One of those times being strawberry season! Strawberry season in Connecticut tends to coincide with Father’s Day. Which is great, as my father loves strawberries (but more on that later).
Strawberry picking works well solo and is also a fun family activity. With that being said, I hope the children are well behaved and can follow the farms rules and also will listen to their parents as those parents enforce the farm’s rules. Parents, please enforce the farms rules, they are in place for everyones safety and enjoyment.
On another soapbox note, make sure you drink up some water, and bring a cooler for the car with more water for after your picking as you are out in the direct sunlight. So, wear your highest SPF and your favorite shades as well. A sunhat would be handy too. But enough on safety let’s get to the fun!
I grew up not far from Jones Tree Farm and would go picking there seasonally. As an adult I would head back there as well. This season I am up in Litchfield county for a bit of time and decided to see what was around this area.
Deeply Rooted Farms LLC came back with high ratings and I decided to check it out. It’s been terribly hot earlier this week but today (06/15/17) it was in the low 60’s and I decided it was a great time to go as they opened their season 2 days earlier. (Note strawberry season varies a little bit depending on the weather, so make sure to check in with your local farm.)
I took the 15 minute drive over and chatted with the people working there. They currently (as of this writing) have two types of berries, Earliglow and L’Amour. More will be coming later in the season. Earliglow stay on the small side but are really sweet as L’Amour are not as sweet and get bigger.)
They give you a basket and send you on your way. Please stay in the marked areas for picking. Once you’re done picking you head back to the stand have your berries weighed and pay by weight. This particular farm (As well as Jones Tree Farm) take cash or check as forms of payment.
Due to some medical things I gave myself 30 minutes in the field to get what I can get. A nosey woman who doesn’t know how to be quiet or mind her own business was behind me while I was waiting to pay and she was waiting to get a basket to pick and said “Boy you didn’t get a lot!” Nice lady, real nice. But some of the people are the farm that work there are actually nice. This one young woman asked me if I would like some help picking, I had decided already I was done for the day and needed to get out of the heat, so I told her I really appreciated the offer but was done for the day. Why do I tell you this? Because kindness begets kindness as rudeness begets rudeness. (I’m really on my high horse today huh?)
Anyway, for a first timer at Deeply Rooted Farms LLC I’d say I’ll come back! Perhaps again this season, perhaps not. But if I do come back this season I’ll get a dollar off if I bring my same box back!
Not into picking your own? You can drive on over and pick up some that were picked by the farmers and are ready to go!
Not sure what to do with all your strawberries? Check these recipes out:
I myself love the jam. My father is a big fan of the dessert topping for his ice cream and the strawberry pie which my mother used to make for him. So with this blog post going live on Father’s Day, guess what dessert is and what he’s taking home as part of his gift?
A Jet Set Lifestyle 