Strawberries
During Season:
Open Sunday - Friday* | Closed Saturdays
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.* (Plus occasional extended evening hours)
*Pending Fruit Availability & Weather Permitting. Times are tentative. Please check our Facebook, View the News from the Market, or call us at (218) 694-2934 for up to date hours of operation.
Check our home page for picking conditions and our Market News!
Or call (218) 694-2934 or (218) 280-7713
We are primarily a pick-your-own strawberry farm, offering family fun of entering the fields and selecting your own perfect, sweet, juicy, red strawberries! Children are always welcome and encouraged (when accompanied by an adult.) We do offer pre-picked strawberries upon request!
Make your trips to the strawberry farm a family tradition!
Don't forget your camera!
2024 Pick Your Own Strawberries Instructions
- If you, or anyone in your party are feeling sick, please do not come out to the fields.
- We encourage customers to wear masks.
- Watch for markers and signage. Berry rows are four foot apart.
- Boxes are provided. At this time you cannot use your own containers or boxes.
- All pickers are encouraged to wash their hands before picking.
- Smaller groups are encouraged.
- Young pickers must be closely supervised and small children must be with an adult.
- Bring along enough adults or older children so when you’re small helpers tire of picking, they can wait with someone.
- We will be assigning strawberry rows.
- Bring your own kneeling pads, wagons or strollers for transporting your little ones.
Thank you for your understanding.
Nothing compares to the sun-drenched flavor of farm fresh berries. The season typically begins around the last week of June or the beginning of July and can last approximately three weeks depending on the weather. (check our home page for daily updates.)
Strawberries are very weather sensitive. Please remember that the picking season is short even in the best of seasons and that ripe strawberries must be picked within a day or two of ripening. (see freezing ideas below.) The old farmer's adage to "make hay while the sun shines" is the best advice for planning your visit to the strawberry fields. Remember…picking times and dates vary with weather, customer response and crop conditions, over which we have no control.
Pre-picked berries are available on a pre-order basis. Please call ahead to place your order.
Ter-Lee Gardens chooses the best tasting, largest, sweetest, juiciest varieties for your eating pleasure, using only the most necessary field management practices. We practice IPM (integrated pest management), which reduces pesticide use to a bare minimum. Straw mulch between the rows makes picking clean, comfortable, and fun.
We will provide containers for picking. Please do not bring your own container.
Cash, checks, Visa/MasterCard, or EBT accepted. Strawberries are also available, when in season, at both the Bemidji Area Farmers Market on Tuesday and Thursday & Bagley Farmers Market on Friday.
Average Equivalents
Strawberries: 1 quart (1L) weighs 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds. Yield: 4 - 5 servings
1 1/2 quarts are needed for one nine-inch pie
1 cup (250 ml) sliced fresh berries = 10 oz. package
of frozen sweetened berries
2 cups crushed needed for freezer jam
5 cups crushed needed for cooked jam
Nutritional Information
These nutrients can be found in a 3/4 cup (100g) serving of strawberries:
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| There is virtually no fat or sodium in strawberries, just natural fiber, natural sweetness and farm, fresh flavor. | ||
Picking and Handling Hints
The strawberry probably tastes best when eaten freshly picked off the vine as you kneel in the middle of a strawberry patch on a bright sunny morning. Second best - any other way you eat it!
When picking strawberries, it is best if possible to pick in the morning or evening when the fruit is cooler. Always pick berries with the stem on; pinch or pull them from the plant. Large or small, every RED berry is ripe, luscious and ready-to-eat.
Green berries will not ripen after picking. Pick all of the ripe fruit, large or small, looking under the leaves, because they like to hide. Leave bad fruit beside the rows. Handle berries gently.
Keep the berries out of direct sunlight and refrigerate as soon as possible. Do not wash or hull the berries until you are ready to use them. Keep berries in refrigerator 2-3 days only, or freeze.
Freezing Berries
Strawberries can be prepared with or without sugar or syrup, and can be chopped, sliced, mashed or pureed. For freezing they should be packed in an airtight container, leaving 1-inch of head space. They are best if used within one year.
Methods of Freezing Berries:
- TRAY PACK - Spread a single layer of fruit on trays and freeze. After the berries are frozen, package and return to the freezer.
- NO SUGAR - Simply pack berries and freeze.
- SUGAR PACK - Thoroughly coat berries, using 1 part sugar to 4 parts berries. Package and freeze.
- SYRUP PACK - Whole berries can be packed into a container and covered with a mixture of equal sugar dissolved in water. Freeze.
- TO THAW - Frozen berries retain better shape with slow defrosting in the refrigerator. Never thaw by placing under running water.
Berry Interesting Trivia
The fragrant strawberry is among the members of the rose family
The average person eats about 3 pounds of fresh berries a year
The average strawberry has about 200 seeds
The United States is the leading producer of the world’s strawberries
The strawberry’s seeds are on the outside rather than on the inside like other fruit
Wild strawberries grow on every continent except Africa and Australia
The strawberry is the favorite fruit of more than half of all U.S. children
Because of its heart shape and red color, the strawberry became the symbol for Venus, the Roman goddess of love