South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Find a farm to pick strawberries
Locals forage for fruit at farms in Miami-Dade , Palm Beach and Broward
For 20 years land developers have angled to buy Robert Hoover’s Davie farm, a squarish
30-acre patch located where the town’s equestrian ranches meet Weston suburbs. But selling was never in Hoover’s heart: Late last year, he embraced paradise and put up a strawberry u-pick.
Family Farm, at 14950 SW 14th St., is the only strawberry u-pick in Broward County, home to 10 acres of strawberry plants along with cows, chickens and bunnies behind the stand. Children feed corn to the livestock for 50 cents an ear. Tractor hayrides rumble to life on the weekends. And dirt pathways meander through rows of u-pick purple kale, grape and cluster tomatoes.
“There is no greater joy than when you harvest your own fruits and veggies,” says Hoover,
46. “You fully understand the circle of life and appreciate good, healthy food.”
Now that strawberry harvest season (generally DecemberMay) is back, demand for in South Florida’s ripe strawberry fields is reaching its peak, he says. For Hoover’s part, he planted this
year’s crop in November and expects to harvest before mid-January.
“Strawberries are our bread and butter,” Hoover says. “I wish I had planted even more than 10 acres of berries, but I’m not sweating it.”
While Family Farm’s visitors will have to wait until after the New Year, strawberry u-picks are opening to the public across the tricounty region. Strawberry u-picks — once as commonplace in these parts as tourists on the beach — can be found at the 80-acre Bedner’s Farm in Boynton Beach.
The 10-acre Girls Strawberry u-pick in Delray Beach, which has grown strawberries since 2007, took a break from planting this year, said co-owner John Palermo, who operates the farm with five brothers and a sister.
And for those willing to schlep to the Redlands, the strawberry bounty is even bigger, with Homestead’s Knaus Berry Farm, Burr’s Berry Farm and Strawberry Fields of Kendall reigning as popular u-picks.
Picking strawberries is effortless, says Lane Brooker, general manager of Bedner’s Farm. U-pickers are first handed a bucket, and they should pluck only fully red strawberries — as opposed to the slightly green ones found in supermarkets, he says. He also recommends placing freshpicked berries in the shade as soon as possible.
“Right now, they’re easy to consume right off the vine,” Brooker says. “You should wear shoes you wouldn’t mind getting dirty, plus some suntan lotion.”
For those ready to pluck, here are South Florida’s most-popular strawberry upicks.
Broward
■ Family Farm
■ 14950 SW 14th St., Davie; 954-804-2850 or FamilyFarmsOnline.com
Robert Hoover’s
20-year-old farm is marking its second season as a strawberry u-pick. “The area around me has matured so much, it seemed the proper way to go was to open as a retail outfit,” Hoover says. His 30-acre farm, which once grew produce to sell to local supermarkets, now trades in nostalgia, with a farmer’s market and a petting zoo for cows, chickens, bunnies, goats and other farmyard animals. Pick strawberries by the pound ($3.50) or stroll the fields for u-pick purple kale, grape and cluster tomatoes. The weekends are especially abuzz with activity, offering tractor hayrides and a bonfire grill with barbecue during the evenings.
Palm Beach
■ Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market
■ 10066 Lee Road, Boynton Beach; 561-733-5490 or Bedners.com
Open year-round since
2010, the 80-acre Bedner’s farmhouse and farmer’s market has grown into a down-home destination in Palm Beach County thanks to matriarch Marie Bedner, whose family has farmed land in western Palm Beach County since 1960. (The family also operates a downtown market in Delray Beach.) Yes, there are country oddities here such as boiled peanuts and locally packaged honeys, hayrides and fall pumpkin patches. But its five-acre strawberry field ($3.99 per pound), home to some
20,000 plants, remains the biggest draw, says Lane Brooker, the farm’s general manager. “It’s more fun for kids than the adults because they’re sweet, they can be eaten right away, and they fit easily in children’s hands,” Brooker says. “We like to stagger our plantings so we’ll have ripe fruit throughout the season.” The u-pick now offers green peppers, grape and cluster tomatoes, with red peppers and cucumbers to follow in January and February.
Miami-Dade
■ Knaus Berry Farm
■ 15980 SW 248th St., Homestead; 305-247-0668 or KnausBerryFarm.com
Wintertime visitors love queuing up in long lines to worship at the altar of Knaus Berry Farm’s freshbaked cinnamon rolls, gooey pinwheels of sugary goodness baked daily at the farm’s on-premise bakery. But its strawberry u-pick is not far behind in popularity, says Thomas Blocher, Knaus’ head of operations since 1984. While the cashonly Redlands farm marked
its 63rd season in October, it began offering u-pick strawberries again 10 years ago ($3.50 per pound) on five acres — a throwback to Knaus’ heyday as a roadside berry stand. The first strawberries ripened in mid-November, Blocher says, but he cautions that until peak season arrives in mid-January, u-pickers should call ahead to confirm availability. “We’re closing Monday and Tuesday for now because there isn’t enough ripened fruit yet,” he says. “Rain affects it, sun affects it, and so we’re at the mercy of the weather.” Pair your bucket of ripened produce (cherry tomatoes should be ready by Jan. 1) with a strawberry milkshake from the bakery, also serving fruit pies and cheesecakes, pecan rolls and jarred jams, country bread loaves and ice cream. Strawberry season ends in mid-April.
■ Burr’s Berry Farm
■ 12741 SW 216th St., Miami; 305-251-0145 or FloridaStrawberryFarm.com
Stacked ripe and succulent on the fruit stand, juicy strawberries pre-picked for your convenience bulge from pint and quart containers at this Redlands institution now pushing 55 years old. That’s a tradition started by Charles Raymond Burr (known to locals as “The Strawberry King”) back in 1965, but u-pickers
craving the hands-on experience are welcome to comb its 30 acres of strawberry plants for ripe finds ($3.50 per pound). Or patrons can crawl its market for freshsteamed hot dogs, ice creams, homemade jams and, yes, molasses-thick strawberry milkshakes — blended with the same fruits that flavor Burr’s decadent strawberry shortcake and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Tomatoes and green peppers ($1 per pound) are now ripe for picking, and strawberry
season ends May 1. Because Burr’s first berries of the season ripened on Nov. 30, call ahead to verify availability.
Strawberry Fields of Kendall
■ Southwest 94th Street and Southwest 137th Avenue, Southwest 160th Street and Southwest
117th Avenue, and Southwest 88th Street and Southwest 167th Avenue;
305-322-3388 or FloridaStrawberryFarm.com
First, know that this nofrills u-pick operates three
strawberry patches in Kendall, but only the northernmost one (at Southwest
94th Street and Southwest
137th Avenue) has opened this season while the others plan to re-open before year’s end. While the berry prices are enviable ($2.50 per pound), you’ll find no fruit milkshakes or homemade ice cream at this roadside shack. But you will find pickable tomatoes for $1 per pound, and an embarrassment of strawberry riches for the jam you’ll undoubtedly make at home later.