The month of May not only brings an abundance of flowers but also lots of fruit and spring-time vegetables. What better way to immerse yourself into nature than to pick your own fruit fresh off the plant?
Thies Farm and Market in Maryland Heights, MO will soon offer visitors the chance to find that perfect red ripe strawberry and pluck it right off the bush. It opens for picking on May 17.
I spoke with General Manager, Andy Welle, to give me the sweet and not so sweet details of five-to-seven-week strawberry season. “This year we are running later than previous seasons. Last year, we were picking on the 7th of May, so it’s about 10 days later this year.”
Welle tells me the late April and early May cool weather delayed the ripening of the berries, but it’s not for the reason you would think. “They need bees to pollinate the plants. There weren’t any bees in the cool weather.”
He did mention that the wind could assist with some pollination and we certainly had a windy month of April.
His farm offers two varieties of strawberries; 80% are of the Chandler variety, the typical teardrop shape, whereas the other 20% are Camirosa, a more blocky-shaped berry.
The Camirosa typically ripen later in the season, but this year, they were the first to turn red. He attributes that to the type of plant. “It’s not as heavy of a plant, more sunlight on the top of the crown helps them ripen faster.” The early season heat last week may have helped too.
You can’t pick the Camirosa ones, they are only available in the market for purchase. Asked if you can taste a difference between the two berries, Welle responded “taste is about the same.”
The farm put about 40,000 strawberry plants in the ground last August. The plants did well during the fall and winter months. It was only when conditions stayed cool in the spring that delayed them.
With the abundance of rain in early May, you would think the plant would be quite hydrated. However, Welle explains that there is a layer of plastic at the bottom of every bush.
This plastic protects the plant, but also doesn’t allow water to penetrate directly into the root, so the plants are dry. This means he and his team still need to water and feed all 40,000 plants.
He says the goal is to be open five-to-seven weeks and yield about a pound of strawberries per plant.
Some changes for You Pick this year: no reservations are required, but You Pick is only available Tuesday–Saturday from 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.. The cost is $3.25 a pound to pick.
Strawberries, not your thing? Welle says to come check out the market. “We have asparagus, lettuce and rhubarb available now, as well as a few other homegrown items besides strawberries.”