I thought you might like to learn about what goes into growing our delicious Parkesdale Strawberries. Sometime between July and August the fields are plowed and leveled. These fields were most likely used to grow peas (blackeye, zipper, and conk) pickles, zucchini or squash.
This is probably when I think the fields look the worst, but being the one with the positive outlook, I always remind myself that you have to start from scratch and only in time you can reap the delicious sugary sweetness.
From August to September, the farm “lays plastic”. This means a tractor comes through the fields making perfect rows of mounded dirt. These mounds are about 2 feet wide. Drip lines are then connected and placed on top of the mound.
A second tractor will then come through the same rows with an attachment. This special attachment allows two farm workers to cover the mounds with the plastic.
During this time, Bobby Parke will travel to different states in search of the perfect strawberry plants for our Florida weather. This year, he travelled to Georgia and North Carolina. We usually pick a couple of different varieties in order to continually have strawberries. There are early and late berry plants. The Farm will start planting the bare root plants sometime in October. The bare root strawberry plants will be available at our market for sale in bunches of 25. Last year’s price for the bunch was $6.99. As always, I’ll keep you posted when we receive the plants so you can grow some at home too!
Have you ever grown your own berries or other fruits/vegetables?
