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By Leah Fronk
Horticulture Educator
Penn State Extension,
Juniata County
Local strawberries are here, in-season, right now. But the answer to the title question is…no, strawberries will not ripen after you pick them.
All berries: strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are best when picked fully ripe. In Pennsylvania and much of the east coast, we prefer our strawberries to be red the whole way through. To ensure the best flavor, we pick strawberries only when red all the way to the tip. You are probably familiar with store-bought strawberries from the west coast and southern states. While these can have good flavor, they are often lacking compared to our local strawberries. It only makes sense that berries that are not completely ripe will be firmer and ship better. The flavor is compromised to get berries to us year-round that are not soft and mushy.
Currently, demand for local berries is higher than the supply. Unfortunately, this is largely due to the series of frost events we had in May. The critical temperature for open blossoms is 30°F. Some parts of the mid-state received frost as late as May 25. Low supply is also related to the warm weather we had in very early spring that pushed the plants ahead so that when the frosts came, the blossoms were open and susceptible to cold damage. You may have purchased berries this season that have a hole or opening at the bottom. This is a result of mild frost damage. The berries can still be eaten and are often used for making jam. If you have a strawberry patch, you know that a blackened strawberry blossom-center is not good. This means that the blossom has been damaged by low temperatures and will not form fruit. Many growers cover their plants with row cover, straw, or irrigate with overhead water to prevent frost damage. It was a lot of work this year to keep up with the erratic weather. Strawberry growers walk a fine line between pushing their crop to be early to market or allowing the crop to come out of winter dormancy slower. The latter option has less risk of cold damage, but higher risk of a crowded market.
I expect strawberry season to last through June for most of our area. Some of the late-fruiting varieties, such as AC Valley Sunset, Cabot and Malwina are just blossoming now which means about 30 days to ripe fruit. There are day-neutral strawberries that produce fruit up until frost. However, many farmers are ready to switch their efforts to other crops like green beans, tomatoes, and pumpkins and do not plant day -- neutral strawberries.