Community Corner
U-Pick Strawberry Season Starts at Tom's Farm Market
Nothing beats a home-grown berry!
I have a love and appreciation for good strawberries.
Growing up in Crystal Lake, my dad always had a big vegetable and fruit garden, and he grew an impressive harvest of strawberries each year. I helped pick them, and my mom made lots of delicious pies, jams and other desserts that our whole family enjoyed.
Honestly, I now realize I took those berries for granted. You just can't get a sweet, red-to-the-middle strawberry from the grocery store.
I have a small garden, not big enough for strawberries. The few times I tried growing them - in those funky pots with the holes up the sides - I would give the 10 or so berries every day to ripen to their "best red." However, the local birds also were giving them ample opportunity to ripen, and they always got the red berries first.
Thankfully, there are farms in the area where we can pick our own fresh strawberries, or buy the pre-picked berries.
Tom's Farm Market
For our area, Tom's Farm Market, 10214 Algonquin Rd. in Huntley, is the place to go.I stopped by Tom's on Tuesday, and - good news - the berries tasted great (so sweet they tasted like they had sugar on them) and Tom's U-Pick Season starts Wednesday, June 19.
Individuals or families can head over to Tom's and pick their own berries from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. The U-pick price is $1.99 per pound. If you're not into picking, the pre-picked berries are waiting in packages right in the front of the store.
Owner Tom Halat said this year's strawberry crop is great.
"The crop is good this year," Halat said. "The strawberries are enjoying the cool weather. The berries are red on the outside, red on the inside and very sweet. They're great for eating, and making jams and jelly."
Tom's began offering the "you-pick option" to customers just last year, after a 12-year hiatus. Prior, the farm allowed you-pick for 20 years, he said.
As a parent, I found bringing my kids to a farm and picking the berries gives them an appreciation for the fruit. One of my kids wouldn't eat them when he was young, but one trip to a you-pick farm fixed that (moment of truth: two of my three kids grew lazy fast, and resorted to eating the berries instead of picking).
Halat recommends people always call ahead first before heading out to Tom's. And, you better move fast. Strawberry season is short - only about two weeks long. So pick enough berries to enjoy now and freeze some for later.
More information is available by calling Tom's Farm Market at 847-669-3421, or visiting Tom's webpage, www.tomsfarmmarket.com or go to Tom's Farm Market on Facebook.
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