Summer will be here before we know it. With the spring months getting warmer and warmer, it can only mean one thing: it’s strawberry season! We all know that strawberries are a delicious fruit that can be used for many different culinary fixings, but here’s the catch – they are also highly perishable.
With May 20 being National Pick Strawberries Day, we want to help you make sure it’s the most successful harvest yet! It’s no secret that strawberries are best while they’re ripe, so you’re going to want to keep your newly picked gems fresh for as long as possible. If you’re in doubt or not sure what to do with your freshly picked strawberries, check out our recommendations on how to celebrate National Pick Strawberries Day to the fullest and keep those tasty berries as fresh as the day you got them!
Picking the Best Strawberries
Whether you grow your own strawberries and pick them from your personal patch or go to a “you pick” berry patch, there are a couple of important tips that will ensure you get the best quality berries this year. When you’re looking in the patch, we recommend practicing the following:
- Always pick fully ripe berries: Strawberries don’t continue to ripen, they only continue to age. So if the berry isn’t fully red, it would be best to leave it on the vine.
- Don’t get too greedy by stuffing your container/basket: Strawberries are very delicate and can bruise easily when pushed up against each other.
- Remember that freshly picked strawberries are best consumed or preserved within one to two days, so keep that in mind when making your selections.
Before You Eat
Okay, now that you’ve gathered up your loot of strawberries, your mouth is probably watering and chomping at the bit to take a bite out of one of those scrumptious, little beauties. However, you’ll need to resist the temptation for just a bit longer!
Before you start stuffing your face with your strawberries, you’ll need to rinse them off. We recommend washing them all using cold water and then patting them dry with paper towels or a completely clean cloth. Once they’re dry, get ready to start reaping the benefits from your hard work and immediately begin enjoying your delicious strawberries on National Pick Strawberries Day!
Keeping Your Strawberries Fresh
As we mentioned earlier, strawberries (especially hand-picked) are extremely delicate and are best eaten or saved within just a couple of days of being picked. That means if you want to enjoy your strawberries for longer than that very short time frame, you’ll need to store them away in the fridge properly. Our best advice to keep those delicious strawberries as fresh as possible is to keep them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
When left outside or anywhere else in the fridge, strawberries can mold and become spoiled very quickly. When keeping them in the crisper drawer, setting the humidity to a higher setting will help preserve your strawberries for much longer than just Pick Strawberries Day. Also, if you do have the choice between a moist or dry zone in your refrigerator, pick the moist option.
If your current fridge’s crisper drawer isn’t equipped with these types of climate controls, it may be time for an upgrade! We offer the best selection of modern refrigerators to match your lifestyle – and keep your strawberries as fresh as the day you picked them. Call us with any questions you may have about the best refrigerator for you!
The sunshine is lasting longer and longer outside every day, and summer is quickly approaching. But there’s no way we can end spring without celebrating National Pick Strawberries Day! Last year showed us that we’re more interested than ever in buying and consuming locally grown foods, and this is a great way to spend part of your May 20 this year.
And if you’re worried your newly harvested strawberries might not last very long with your current fridge setup, a new and improved refrigerator could make a huge difference in keeping them (and all of your produce) fresh for days to come. Shop our top selection of reliable refrigerators from trusted brands and make this the best Pick Strawberries Day ever!