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Barters and Bootstraps

From planning to harvesting and sales strategies, how to start a backyard strawberry stand.

By Biz Fairchild Reynolds

Little cellophane packages of out-of-season, greenish-red, sunken-skinned strawberries are selling at the grocery for $2.79 per pound. I'm not exactly sure why they are selling. In fact, even when strawberries are in season for a few weeks early in the spring, the flavor of these shipped-in, underripe commercial varieties is nothing to brag about.

While these sad excuses for strawberries are moldering in the exotic food section next to prickly pear cactus leaves, Carambola, and litchi berries, I am at home nibbling on a tantalizing, bright-red, sun-ripened, lightly-sweetened, partially-thawed, bowl of round little berries that went from my berry patch to the garage freezer in a matter of minutes—thus retaining perfect color, high nutrient content, and flavor that makes you close your eyes in ecstasy. Microwaved for a minute or two on high, then broken apart in a bowl and spooned over vanilla ice cream, or dribbled over hot shortcake biscuits, or merely tucked in a cheek to slowly melt, releasing summer's sun soaked flavor—here aren't many things that can top the taste of home-grown strawberries.

Now that I have finished my sales pitch, I have to admit that to get to the "Let's eat!" stage there is a bit of preparation and work to be done—but the results ...the results.

Doing Your Research

Looking through a magazine one day, I noticed an offer for a now out-of-date strawberry catalog, and ordered it out of curiosity. I'd been toying with the idea of starting a backyard patch but had no idea how to start. When the catalog arrived with dozens of listings of berry varieties, I read each description carefully.

First, I eliminated those varieties whose claim to fame was gigantic size or excellent shipping quality. The larger berries weren't always disease-resistant, and the commercial varieties promised firm but less flavorful results. Several kinds did well in the Midwest where I farm, and many of those were praised for their freezing quality.

As my choices narrowed, I chose a fool-proof variety that promised to grow in most climates, in most soils, under most any weather conditions and purchased my fast batch of Surecrop berry plants.

After several droughts and a number of floods, we made the decision to switch from the dairy and feed business to raising cattle and more profitable crops. It was clear that during the several years it would take to build our new business into a money-making venture, added income would be necessary. I've always been a stay-at-home mom, substitute—teaching, giving classes in wreath-making, doing freelance writing. This was an opportunity to try something new. With hundreds of acres of open farmland around our home, there was room to expand our small family strawberry patch and open a U-Pick strawberry patch.