Make sure your berries are actually fresh.

A good strawberry will be plump and firm. It should be bright red all over, with no green patches or white spots on it. If you’re buying strawberries that look like that, you’ll know they’ve been picked when they were ripe and are ready to eat now.

As for how to tell a strawberry isn’t fresh? Well, there’s the obvious: mold. You don’t want moldy strawberries (unless you love throwing money away). Mushy-looking ones will have lost their sweetness and won’t be as tasty as they could be either, even if they’re still edible. If a strawberry looks like the flavor has already gone out of it, give it a pass—you can always get another one later!

The best way to tell if a strawberry is fresh is by using your nose (and maybe your tongue too). When you go to buy them at the store or at the farmer’s market, take a whiff and see what kind of scent comes from them—a sweet smell is great! Your next job is to taste one…but remember where you got it from so that you can pay for it if it tastes good enough to buy.

Avoid the ones with blemishes.

A bright red strawberry is a beautiful sight, and it’s even better if you’ve picked one out of your own garden. If you need to buy strawberries before they’re in season, it can be hard to know which ones will taste their sweetest. Before taking home a carton or plastic clamshell of the fruit, take these tips into consideration:

• Look for the best color: Strawberries should be bright red with just a hint of green at the top. If they’re mostly green or yellow, pass them over and find some that are more ripe.
• Avoid blemishes: Even if the color looks good on a container of strawberries, be sure to check each one carefully for mold or white spots. These could mean that the berry has gotten wet or exposed to insect larvae — ew! If you see any signs like this on your strawberries, put that carton back and look for another one instead.
• Inspect for firmness: A good strawberry is neither too hard nor too soft. It should give slightly when you press down on it but still feel firm overall and not mushy at all. This will usually tell you whether or not a batch is ripe enough to eat right away — perfect for enjoying immediately in a smoothie or dessert once you get home!

Check for signs of overripeness.

The next thing you should check for is signs of overripeness. If the berries are starting to deteriorate, they will exhibit a few key symptoms. First, they may start to stick together in clumps, almost as if they’ve been glued together. This is a sign that their juice (and thus their flavor) is starting to leak out and that they’re becoming mushy. Another sign of overripened strawberries might be bruising or dents on the surface of the berry. These are caused when the fruit hits against other berries while inside the container and starts to bruise. Overripe strawberries won’t taste nearly as good and won’t store as well after being purchased from the store, so make sure you check for these signs before purchasing or consuming your strawberries!

Overripe strawberries also have less nutritional value than fresh ones, so if you’re looking for something healthy that packs in several important nutrients, try one of my personal favorites: avocado toast!

It’s easy to get a great strawberry if you know what to look for

If you can’t wait for fresh strawberries to hit the summer market, there are a few things you should look for right now.

When you pick up your strawberries, check to be sure that they have green leaves and a fresh smell. Avoid strawberries that are too soft or bruised. You want to find strawberries that are firm and brightly colored—don’t buy them if they have brown spots. If the strawberries aren’t quite ripe yet, store them at room temperature until they’re ready (although never more than 2-3 days). Once berries are ripe: store in the refrigerator for up to five days (if it’s necessary), but eat as soon as possible for best flavor!If you can’t wait for fresh strawberries in the summertime, check these 3 things first:

1. Are they actually grown in the region you’re buying them from? Freshness is key—so even if it’s early spring and the strawberries are grown elsewhere, they might not be quite as fresh as they could be.

2. Do they look like strawberries? When strawberries aren’t locally grown, they tend to look a little smaller and more wrinkled than their locally-grown counterparts.

3. Do they smell like strawberries? Strawberries that were picked at peak ripeness should have a strong but pleasant scent that will stay with them all the way to your kitchen table.

We all know that the most delicious strawberries come from a local farm in the summertime. But what if you just can’t wait that long? What if you’re craving strawberries right now?

Before you head to the store for your strawberry fix, check these three things:

1. Is it strawberry season? If not, your strawberries are probably going to taste like mealy cardboard. Do you want mealy cardboard-tasting strawberries?

2. Are there any strawberry farms near you, where you could get fresh berries? They may not be summer-ripe, but they’ll be better than anything you would get at the store.

3. Are there any farmers’ markets around you where you might get better quality berries? Buying local is always a good idea!

Strawberries are one of the most popular fruits in the United States. They are a versatile and delicious fruit that can be used in many sweet recipes, but also have a great tart taste when eaten raw. The best way to describe their flavor is that they taste like they smell.

The problem with strawberries is that they can only be found during the summer months at farmer’s markets or in grocery stores. So if you want strawberries outside of these peak growing periods, you’ve got two choices: eat frozen berries or go without! Fortunately, there’s another option: buy them locally (and buy them fresh). Not only will this save money but it’ll also mean your fruit has traveled fewer miles to get from farm to table.

That’s why we recommend buying local strawberries when possible! And don’t worry about having to wait until summer comes around again—just check these three things first:

If you’re like me, you can’t wait for the first strawberries of summer. But if you’re also like me, then your excitement might be clouded by a little anxiety.

How do you know if those strawberries are super sweet, or if they’re going to be all white and mealy in the middle? How can you tell that they’ll have a good balance of tartness and sweetness? And when it comes down to it, do you know how to pick out the best strawberries at the grocery store?

Well, I’m here to help! Here are three things you can look for before buying your next batch of berries.

1. Look for misshapen berries

This is one of my favorite tricks for picking out strawberries. Take a look at the photos below: which ones would you choose?

I’ll tell you which ones I’d go for: the oddly-shaped ones! That’s right. Berries that are misshapen are usually sweeter than their perfectly spherical counterparts. That’s because strawberries that grow oddly often get less sun than rounder berries, and so they have less sugar in them. It may sound counterintuitive, but it works! (As long as they’re not too squished or soft.)

2

If you, like me, can’t wait for the first strawberries to hit the shelves in your local grocery store, you might be tempted to buy them as soon as they appear. But unless you’re prepared to end up with a lot of sour, flavorless berries, it’s important to make sure they’re ready before you bring them home.

There are three things each of us should check before buying strawberries:

1. The color of the strawberry should be deep red. If it has a hint of green at the top or on the sides, chances are pretty good it’s not quite ready yet.

2. The strawberry should be firm and solid. If it looks like it might squish if you push on it too hard (or even if you don’t), it probably isn’t ripe enough just yet.

3. Give the strawberry a sniff and see if you can smell what I call “the strawberry smell.” If so, then congratulations! You have found yourself a ripe strawberry!

The wait for fresh, juicy strawberries is almost over—but you don’t have to wait until then to get the most out of these sweet and sour summer treats!

In fact, there are a few simple things you can do right now to ensure that you’ll be able to fully take advantage of strawberry season when it’s time.

First, get your soil ready by testing its pH levels. This post from the University of Minnesota Extension Service shows you how to test your soil’s pH and how to adjust it if necessary. Strawberries like a slightly acidic environment, so knowing your soil’s pH will help you determine whether or not you’ll need to add lime or sulfur before planting.

Second, plan your garden layout. Once you’ve made sure your soil is at the right pH level, it’s time to decide how many strawberry plants you’ll need, where they’ll go in your garden plot, and how they will be laid out.

This article on the Missouri Botanical Garden website has some helpful suggestions for choosing an ideal location for your strawberry plot as well as some ideas for how best to arrange your plants within that plot.

Third, get yourself some strawberry plants! The earlier in the spring you can plant them, the better. You can plant bare

It may be a bit early to start thinking about strawberries, but if you’re already getting antsy for those big, juicy, bright-red berries, we don’t blame you. It’s hard to resist them! They’re so sweet, so tart, so juicy. They’re delicious chopped up in salads and smoothies and jam, or all by themselves.

We understand the struggle. But before you head out to buy some strawberries while they’re still in season (or even if they aren’t), there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. First of all: berries are actually not berries at all! While we refer to these fruits as “berries,” technically speaking, only blueberries (and other “true” berries) are actually berries according to the USDA. Strawberries are not berries—they are actually an aggregate fruit, formed from a single flower with more than one ovary, each of which develops into a fruitlet.

2. Strawberries can grow in many different climates—in fact, it’s estimated that there are approximately 600 varieties of strawberries grown around the world. They grow best in places with rich soil and moderate sunlight and humidity; examples include regions like the northern U.S., southern Canada, Japan, parts of