Spring has sprung and brought with her one of her sweetest gifts–strawberry season! Strawberries are the early birds of the edible world. They foretell that warmer, longer, lazier days are in our future. These delicious red beauties are a sweet reward for making it through the winter–however patiently or impatiently.
Valley residents are lucky enough to live near Brown Farms, which specializes in strawberries. Brown Farms has been in the u-pick business for 15 years now and grows roughly 10 acres of strawberries. They also offer gorgeous flowers and ferns for purchase.
Picking strawberries is a great opportunity for children to witness first-hand where their food comes from. My 3-year-old son and I thoroughly enjoyed our morning together at Brown Farms. It was a perfect opportunity to give him a very basic run-down of the life cycle of a strawberry (seed, seedling, plant, runners, flowers, strawberries). As a “city kid”, he loved the excuse to play in the dirt!
In just under two hours (and moving at a very “preschool” pace) my son and I picked 4 gallons of strawberries. What do you do with all these strawberries?!
10 Delicious Uses For Your Brown Farms Strawberries:
- Homemade Strawberry Jam
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
- Strawberry Popsicles
- Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberry Smoothies
- Freeze-dried Strawberries
- Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
- Strawberries by the Handful!
If you have more than you can use, a gallon of strawberries makes a sweet gift to give to a friend or neighbor. Also, consider slicing and freezing clean berries to stretch the local strawberry season!
A Few Things to Know Before You Go:
- Strawberries grow low to the ground. You may want to bring a gardening stool if you have difficulty kneeling.
- Consider going earlier in the morning to avoid the hottest part of the day.
- Cold drinks are available for purchase in the Brown Farm cabin.
- Brown Farms has wagons available if you picked more buckets than you can carry.
- Don’t forget the sunscreen!
Ready to Go? Brown Farms Strawberries Info
Date: Now-Late May
Time: Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p,.m. Sunday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Location: Brown Farms
384 Walnut Grove Road
New Market, AL 35761
Phone: (256) 828-0710
Cost: $11.00 per self-picked gallon. $13.00 per pre-picked gallon.
Directions: From Huntsville: Hwy 231 North towards Hazel Green. Turn Right at traffic light onto Joe Quick Road. Left onto Walnut Grove Road. Farm will be on your left.
(Photo Credit: Sue Zupko)
Guest blogger for We Are Huntsville. Are you interested in writing a post for our site? Email katelyn@wearehuntsville.com.
Great article. You have a talent with words.
I now have a serious craving for strawberry-rhubarb pie! Brown Farms sounds fun! I’ll have to check it out.
Can’t wait to go!!!
I recently went on a field trip with my daughters head start class. It was wonderful there and the people were very nice and child friendly. The children were free to go anywhere on the grounds and pick from any of the many fields. We were also able to eat at the many clean tables they have or just sit in the grass to have a pic-nic.