Our business is a seasonal business. But how can I say “seasonal” when the market is open year around? Well, as the largest strawberry and citrus market in Florida, our market is busiest during strawberry season. In the month of October, the farm gets millions of bare root strawberry plants to be planted in our fields. (Yes, you can purchase bare root strawberry plants in bunches at our market). Then we wait. And the phones will start ringing: “Are you serving Strawberry Shortcake yet?”. Sadly, we’ll respond not yet. Strawberry Shortcake season has always been January thru mid April, which follows the winter season of Florida strawberries.
For the past few years, we’ve been able to start our World Famous Strawberry Shortcakes in December. People from all over the world continue to enjoy our fresh Strawberry Shortcakes in our garden every year.
Another common question we get, is how many berries do we go through in a day. That’s a tough one. Some days we’ll go through one pallet filled with full flats, other days we’ll go through two pallets. This past season from December 2011 to March 2012, 44 tons of fresh Florida Strawberries were used to make strawberry shortcakes and milkshakes. Forty Four tons! That’s two dump trucks filled with fresh Florida Strawberries.
So, now comes the sad part…April brings warmer temperatures, which means the berries will not be able to withstand the Florida heat. This season’s last day of Strawberry Shortcake will be April 22, 2012. And why you ask? The answer is simple, you need fresh Florida strawberries to make the best Strawberry Shortcake in the world. Our beloved Strawberry Shortcake will disappear from our menu for a few months. Although, to some customers it may seem like an eternity. Our Summer menu, will bring back fruit filled milkshakes, our tangerine-vanilla swirl ice cream and the Parkesdale Banana Split. But even as tempting as those may sound, we can’t deny we’ll be missing our Strawberry Shortcake.
What’s your favorite Parkesdale treat? Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Milkshake or both?
Do you still sell fruit plants like blackberries? Is there a time of year that you sell more edibles then others???
Yes! We just got in some blueberry bushes last week. Around this time of year, we usually have blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, guava, fig, tomato and peppers. Later in October, we’ll get more of the vegetable plants.