Picking Strawberries
Okay so being raised by my mother required certain etiquette be learned as a child. One of those particular etiquettes was for picking Strawberries. Now, we didn't exactly pick strawberries at pick-your-own farms often but when we did mom wanted to make sure that we knew how to do so politely. I have found that I am very thankful to have learned these things early on because now, at 26, when I go to pick strawberries on my own, I know the proper way of doing things.
Strawberry Picking Etiquette:
1. Pick your row and stick with it. If the farm doesn't assign you a row, select an empty row and make sure you work that row to the end before moving on to another. Something that always bugs me about going to pick strawberries around here is the people that don't understand that if someone is in a row you do not mess with that row and you don't climb from row to row just because you see a ripe berry... it's RUDE.
2. Do not climb over the rows or place your feet on top of the rows. The farmers work very hard to build up these rows and if you're putting your feet all over them, not only could you be crushing plants, but you could cause a row to collapse.
3. Pick the berries by pinching the stem right at the berry, do not pull or tug the stem because it can cause damage to the entire plant.
4. Carefully place berries in your bucket, do not toss or throw them as it will cause damage to the berry.
5. Pick only the berries that are fully red, leave the less than ripe berries for the next person that comes along because chances are those partially green berries will be nice and red by the next day.
6. Don't leave rotten fruit on the vine. If you see a berry eaten by bugs or over ripe to the point of mushiness, pick it and place it in between the rows on the ground behind you. Generally, I do not abide by this particular rule because I can't stand to pick the mushy berries, they make me wanna gag just feeling them mush in my hands. However, it's a good rule to abide by because if left on the vine they can spread quickly to the good berries and cause them to rot faster.
If you follow these simple rules when picking strawberries, you'll have a good time and you wont prevent others from having a good time. Maybe I'm a bit of a Nazi when it comes to certain codes of behavior but it just drives me bananas to be at the strawberry farm and watch people hopping from row to row. I was working in my row and a woman came up behind me and said "excuse me" as she marched on down to the end of MY row... I was so tempted to say "yes excuse you, you're in my row" but I just knew she wouldn't understand because no one bothers to learn proper etiquette anymore. It's just so dag on sad.
Strawberry Picking Etiquette:
1. Pick your row and stick with it. If the farm doesn't assign you a row, select an empty row and make sure you work that row to the end before moving on to another. Something that always bugs me about going to pick strawberries around here is the people that don't understand that if someone is in a row you do not mess with that row and you don't climb from row to row just because you see a ripe berry... it's RUDE.
2. Do not climb over the rows or place your feet on top of the rows. The farmers work very hard to build up these rows and if you're putting your feet all over them, not only could you be crushing plants, but you could cause a row to collapse.
3. Pick the berries by pinching the stem right at the berry, do not pull or tug the stem because it can cause damage to the entire plant.
4. Carefully place berries in your bucket, do not toss or throw them as it will cause damage to the berry.
5. Pick only the berries that are fully red, leave the less than ripe berries for the next person that comes along because chances are those partially green berries will be nice and red by the next day.
6. Don't leave rotten fruit on the vine. If you see a berry eaten by bugs or over ripe to the point of mushiness, pick it and place it in between the rows on the ground behind you. Generally, I do not abide by this particular rule because I can't stand to pick the mushy berries, they make me wanna gag just feeling them mush in my hands. However, it's a good rule to abide by because if left on the vine they can spread quickly to the good berries and cause them to rot faster.
If you follow these simple rules when picking strawberries, you'll have a good time and you wont prevent others from having a good time. Maybe I'm a bit of a Nazi when it comes to certain codes of behavior but it just drives me bananas to be at the strawberry farm and watch people hopping from row to row. I was working in my row and a woman came up behind me and said "excuse me" as she marched on down to the end of MY row... I was so tempted to say "yes excuse you, you're in my row" but I just knew she wouldn't understand because no one bothers to learn proper etiquette anymore. It's just so dag on sad.
1 Share The Love:
You are wonderful. I agree 100%.
Post a Comment