Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits! One of the great joys of living in California is that strawberries are grown along the coast throughout the state at different times of the year, so we are able to have California grown strawberries throughout the year. As great as strawberries taste, let’s learn more about them so we can better appreciate all of the hard work that goes into bringing strawberries to the market!
Table of Contents
When is Strawberry Season in California?
Strawberry season is year-round in California, with different regions having peak harvesting seasons at different times of the year.
Where are Strawberries Grown in California?
The large growing areas are located along the coast. There are three main growing regions, which consist of:
- Watsonville/Salinas
- Santa Maria/Oxnard
- Orange County/San Diego
Strawberry Fields
Here is a look at what commercial strawberry fields look like, and how strawberries are planted.
How are Strawberries Grown Commercially?
Strawberries are grown on raised beds. There is a black (or sometimes white or other colored) covering that is used, which acts as a mulch that helps retain the soil moisture, prevent against diseases and weeds, and keeps the fruit from coming into contact with any irrigation water. Strawberries are typically drip irrigated (and therefore, fertigated – where they receive liquid fertilizer through the drip tape) and the irrigation tape goes underneath the plastic covering before the plants are planted. This planting method is typically referred to as annual hill production (AHP) systems or strawberry plasticulture.
Strawberry plants are perennials, meaning that they can grow and produce for more than one season, but they are commonly only grown for one season to help with disease control.
How are Strawberries Harvested?
Strawberries are harvested by hand, and are packed directly into clamshells in the field.
It seems pretty straight forward, but there is a lot of work and detail that goes into the harvesting process. Below, you can see the harvesting process captured during a visit to Darensberries in Santa Maria, California.
How to Know When Strawberries are Ready to be Harvested?
The workers go through the designated rows and harvest strawberries based on size and color (how much of the strawberry is colored red), and leave the less colored berries for when they come back and harvest the same rows 2-3 days later. Since strawberries are non-climacteric fruit and do not continue ripening after harvest, color is the maturity index used to determine when the strawberry is ripe enough to pick for desired consumption. This is a difficult task since strawberries have such a short shelf-life, and the riper they are at harvest, the shorter shelf-life they will have after being harvested.
Strawberry Harvesting & Packing
In the video below, you will see an overview of the strawberry harvesting and packing process.
The steps taken to harvest strawberries are as follows:
- Box Formation – Boxes are created by a designated worker in the field.
- Harvest – Strawberries are hand harvested into clamshells. The workers have a cart with wheels to help them progress through the rows of the strawberry field.
- Quality Control – Once the harvesters fill a box, they take them to the quality control workers, where the clamshells are weighed to make sure they meet the specified weight (determined by the customer). The Quality Control worker reviews the quality of the harvested product, and checks off the workers for their delivered product.
- Pallet Drop – The workers take the approved boxes to the pallet stack and grab a new box and clamshells and start the process all over again.
- Pallet Formation – Pallets are created as the filled boxes are stacked. They are then taken to the outskirts of the field to be picked up and taken to a nearby cooler.
I would like to thank Darensberries for the tour and for allowing me to share the gathered content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are any harvesting tools used to harvest strawberries?
No, all harvesting is done by hand.
How are strawberry harvesters paid?
For strawberries specifically, it is very common to see workers being paid piece rate, which means that they are paid based on the amount of fruit that is harvested. Essentially, the workers are incentivized to pick and work faster, so although you rarely see it publicized, it is very common to see harvesters running back and forth to the packing table once they have completed packing a box to get a new box because they want to work faster to make more money. This can work two ways: they can work a full day to make maximum pay or they can work until they decide they have made enough money for the day and stop working early.
What does it mean if the top part of the strawberry is white?
Those white portions are referred to as white shoulders and are caused by temperature fluctuations during the growing phase. Click here to learn more about white shoulders and why you should pay attention to them.
Will strawberries ripen on the counter?
No, strawberries do not ripen after being harvested. Strawberries are classified as non-climacteric fruit, meaning that if you place them on the counter, they will just go bad faster instead of ripen in the meantime!
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