On a much lighter note: strawberries.......

[starbreather]

Oh I can't wait for strawberries. Wanted to ask the group for some help, I put up @ least a hundred quarts was freezing them and will continue. This year I am gonna play around with dehydration. This fall i am going to plant my own to solve this problem, but for now I buy. Ok, I will attempt to focus.

I am in the Columbus area, I have been attempting to do my homework and find the best deal to get the most bang for my $. Unfortunately, locally it's super early in the harvest season for strawberries & deals are hard to come by. I have found that Huber winery, 70 miles away, has them for $2.50 a quart as long as you purchase 2 gallons. Good news I have a family member graduation to attend Sunday, thats 10 minutes away from said location. So, I guess my question is if anyone in the Columbus area knows anywhere to by bulk local strawberries I am interested to be informed of where. I want to keep my $ local and support some smaller independent farmers.

Thanks for lending me your time & information!
Bob

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Bob,

I can't help you with any specifics, but if I were you, I'd just start asking people.

Either that, or start cruising the local back roads looking for signs.

Or perhaps visit a local farmer's market or two. I can guarantee that you'll find strawberries!

-J-

 

[Truckie174]

Like Indy Guy said, farmers markets are great place to ask\buy them, along with alot of other produce. We're (starting this summer) canning for our family, and will be buying locally until our garden starts producing.

 

[steveh_131]

My wife bought some topsy turvy hanging planters for strawberries. We're already getting blossoms from them! They are thriving in these planters, and you can pick up last year's model pretty cheap at menards. The only tricky part is finding something strong enough to hold them up. A shepherd's hook will NOT work.

Also, +1 on dehydrating them. I cut them into 1/4" or 1/8" slices and they're really fun snacks when they're dehydrated.

This doesn't answer your question at all. Haha.

 

[96firephoenix]

with the dehydration, sprinkle them with a little tiny bit of sugar after you slice them but before you dry them.

and last year, Aldi (discount grocer) put strawberries on sale for $1/Qt. we've got a couple gallons of strawberry wine in the basement from that sale.