Estimated Strawberry Picking: First Week in June
Over 8 Acres of Sweet, Stain-Your-Chin-Red Strawberries for you to pick!
Pick your own strawberry Season in central MA runs from about the end of May through the end of June, but can move by as much as 2 weeks either direction. To be sure you don’t miss picking your own strawberries, or picking any fruit, be sure to sign up for our Email Fruit Alerts.
Our Strawberry Season
Our PYO strawberry season runs from about the end of May through June, but can move by as much as 2 weeks either direction here in central Massachusetts.
Strawberry Varieties
We plant over 8 varieties of strawberries in our pick your own fields, for a long and flavorful strawberry season.
Choosing strawberry varieties is a task we take seriously. It is important to choose varieties that are delicious, hardy and that create a long berry season for our central Massachusetts location.
Growing Strawberries
Planting:
Pick your own strawberry plants are not allowed to bear fruit the first year. During the first growing season we pinch off all flowers by hand to help create a stronger plant and larger berries. It is the second year strawberries are able to bear fruit and be available for you-pick.
When our strawberry plants are about five years old, they no longer bear enough fruit for our pick your own fields and are replaced with new root stock, restarting the process.
Winter:
Every fall we put our strawberries to bed for the winter under a nice layer of warm straw. A tractor with a special attachment spreads the straw evenly over the berry plants, keeping them out of the harsh winter winds. In the early spring we cover the strawberry rows with special material to keep them safe and secure during our unpredictable spring weather. When the soil and air temperatures warm up in the spring sun, the strawberry plants grow through the straw and start to flower.
After you pick, stop in our Farm Store & Kitchen for a strawberry delight!
Happy strawberry pickers in one of our strawberry fields!
PYO Strawberry Experience
PYO Strawberry Experience
Where to go: Find parking in our large, easy and free lot. Our strawberries fields are entered from our East and West Entrance, depending on where the fruit is ready for picking at the time of your visit – look for our signs directing you to the correct entrance.
How to Pay: At our Field Entrance you will purchase your PYO Field Admission. We accept cash, MC, Visa, Amex and SNAP cards.
Getting into the Field: Enjoy a walk in our beautiful grounds or take a wagon ride to the picking area. Occasionally picking fields are only accessible by foot but if you require a ride, please ask and we will do our very best to accommodate
Timing: Strawberry picking takes, on average 45 minutes, depending on the age of pickers and how much fruit you are looking to pick. A perfect amount of time to pick some fresh-from-the-field fruit and then grab an ice cream and visit the animals.
- Wear closed-toed shoes
- Wear sunscreen
- Sunglasses and/or a hat
- Bring or Purchase water
Q. Why do you direct me to a specific section of the field?
A. Our goal is always to provide the best berries possible! One way to accomplish this goal is to have people pick out rows, one by one. That way the next person always has an abundance of berries to pick.
Q. Why do I have to ask an Harvest Guide if I want to move rows?
A. Our Harvest Guides are responsible for getting the entire field picked and keep track of what still needs to be picked. By asking where to go you enable our Guides to keep track of where needs to be picked and what is now finished for the day.
How to Pick Your Own Strawberries
- Follow the strawberry signs to the location we are picking at the moment
- You and your group will be assigned a picking spot. Pick All RIPE FRUIT – LARGE AND SMALL in your spot. Ripe fruit is RED with no white or green. Picking ALL the ripe fruit in your section helps us grow the best berries! Please do your share to help.
- Pick from the center of the strawberry beds on both sides in towards the middle
- Spread the leaves and LIFT THE CLUSTERS of fruit. You will find lots of beautiful fruit hiding in “plain sight”. Pinch the stems so that you don’t crush the berries. They keep longer with their caps intact.
- If you have picked all the ripe fruit in your spot, please ask a Harvest Guide to assign you a new spot. Please walk only on the straw between the rows and in cross aisles. No Row Hopping! You’d be surprised the amount of damage row hopping creates.
- Place any over ripe or damaged fruit into a provided “icky berry” bucket. When you are finished picking, give the bucket to a staff person or leave it at the composting station. This is crucial for our pest managing system. We thank you for helping us keep things tidy.
- Plant flag in center of walk aisle (not in the bed) where you stopped picking.
- Supervise your children, keep them close, and teach them how to pick correctly. Have fun!
- Need a new spot? Please Ask! Need more packaging or help getting fruit back to the building? Please Ask!
Whether you want to pick your own or visit our store for Farm-Picked berries, we are sure you will love our fresh, ripe, juicy strawberries that drip down your chin and stain your hands red with their delicious goodness.
Our famous recipes, canning and preserving instructions.
Delicious Pick Your Own Strawberry Varieties Grown at Tougas Family Farm!
Galleta Strawberries
The Galletta Strawberry is very sweet and perfect for snacking. It has a large berry and is also great for freezing, jamming, baking, purees and juice.
Rutgers Scarlet Strawberry
Outstanding strawberry with exceptional flavor, the Rutgers Scarlet is a winner! Berries are a firm conical shape in a deep red color, boasting some of the best strawberry flavor! A premium berry.
AC Valley Sunset Strawberries
From Nova Scotia, the AC Valley Sunset strawberry ripens late in the strawberry season. These large-sized strawberries are shiny and sometimes a lighter red than other strawberries. Flavor is delicious!
Flavorfest Strawberry
The large berry of the Flavorfest Strawberry is a bright, beautiful red and, as the name suggests, provides a festival of flavor in your mouth.
Brunswick Strawberry
Brunswick strawberry has a been rated as having an excellent flavor while still maintaining a good berry size. and appearance.
Wendy Strawberry
The Wendy Strawberry is typically the first variety we pick and is a favorite on the farm for its excellent, fresh flavor.
Jewel Strawberry
A mid-strawberry season favorite! The Jewel Strawberry boasts large, flavorful berries with excellent freezing quality. A great variety to pick and enjoy now and later!
Daroyal Strawberry
The Daroyal Strawberry has a nice sized berry with excellent flavor. Easy to pick, this round, bright red berry will fill your basket with delicious strawberry flavor.
Sonata Strawberry
The glossy Sonata Strawberry has large, conic-shaped berries that are bright red with a great mouth feel and good strawberry flavor.