Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] strawberry flavor

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: road's end farm <organic101 AT linkny.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] strawberry flavor
  • Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 23:10:43 -0500


On Feb 13, 2005, at 10:10 AM, Tradingpost wrote:


I don't know strawberriy growing, and I'm wondering what they've done to
make supermarket strawberries so tasteless. Is it the bred varieties or the
harvesting, fertilizer, or what?

I think it's mostly the varieties. There are some varieties bred for large size and very firm berries to stand up to shipping; they're not bred for flavor. They've often been picked unripe, too.

Once when I was handing out taste samples at market I had a woman get upset. She got strawberry juice on her shirt when she bit into the berry and said to me, in a tone of great indignation, "These strawberries are *juicy*!" I was baffled and said something like, "well yes they're juicy, they're strawberries." (Not great marketing technique, I know.) Some time later I bought a pint at the supermarket out of sheer curiosity and then I understood. Not only were they tasteless, they weren't juicy at all; they were crisp and hard, like an unripe apple. She must have been eating those, and thought that they were normal.

I did once trial a variety, a year or two after that, that had a similar texture and (lack of) flavor, though not quite as bad. I tilled them back in; I wouldn't take them to market. Since then I approach with great caution any strawberry variety described as "extra firm" or "good shipper".

-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page