What's in season? Strawberries at Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard

By AMY SOWDER

Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard general manager Kristina Jahaly and farm manager Greg Rotter in the strawberry fields. AMY SOWDER PHOTOS

Kristina Jahaly squatted down, cradling a red berry dotted with yellow-green seeds shaped like upside-down teardrops.

“Isn’t that perfect?” she asked. “They’re so sweet, and you get that crunch.”

Jahaly, general manager at Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard in North Salem, meandered through the 2 acres of strawberry fields on a hot, bright summery morning, plucking a berry here and there, tasting as she talked.

“We don’t spray anything on the berries, so you can munch in the field,” she said. “We also pick for the store.”

Harvest Moon is known for its U-pick apples, cidery, cider doughnuts, garden store, greenhouse dining space and fall, winter and spring festivities. It’s agritourism at its Lower Hudson Valley best. 

But come summer, the buzz is all about the berries.

“We like to say they’re sun-kissed. They’re pesticide and chemical free,” Jahaly said.

In June, droves descend on the farm to pluck their own strawberries each weekend. While many farmers markets and some farms, such as Rochambeau Farm in Mount Kisco, also grow and sell strawberries, Harvest Moon might be the only U-pick strawberry farm in Westchester County.

“They’re easy to pick and taste good. They’re the first taste of summer,” said Greg Rotter, farm manager.

This season he added about 6,000 new strawberry plants in 20 rows, planted on May 13. They grow about six varieties, including darselect, allstar, jewel, Dickens and Annapolis, chosen for taste, disease tolerance and staggered blossom times so the harvest window stays open as long as possible.

That window is brief, and Jahaly hesitates to say exactly how long the strawberries will be available. It depends on the weather. Tickets — released just before each weekend — must be purchased in advance and usually sell out fast.

The farm uses seaweed extract fertilizer, a natural biostimulant that improves soil nutrients and crop yields. To control weeds, Rotter rotates the strawberry patches on a three-year schedule, tills the soil after ripping out old plants to dry out mold and fungus, and plants white Dutch clover in some paths. He’s also been experimenting with hay and straw mulch over early plants instead of plastic.

Using straw mulch to protect the berries and alleviate weeds is yet another old practice that’s new again. And it could be how strawberries get their name. Either that, or its name came from the Old English word “streawberige,” which describes how the plant’s runners spread and scatter (or “strew”) along the ground.

“We put nothing on the veggies,” Rotter said as he stepped over a strawberry row and gazed across the fields. “That’s why you see so many weeds. At a small farm, we can do the weeding. It’s not all about dollars and cents.”

And the result is a berry that tastes nothing like what you find in a supermarket. These have a floral aroma, intensely sweet flavor and a soft-but-firm bite. A little bug damage on a leaf here and there doesn’t change any of that.

“You actually want the bugs,” Jahaly said. “That means no chemicals.”

Besides eating them straight out of the field, the most popular ways to use strawberries include dipping them in melted chocolate, making jam, blending into smoothies, baking into desserts and tossing into leafy green salads. 

Or, those who want to try less obvious recipes can consider whipping up a strawberry lassi or strawberry-ginger limeade. For something savory with a twist, try a balsamic roasted strawberry and basil grilled cheese or strawberry tabbouleh.

It’s a delicious way to get your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Harvest Moon’s paper-pulp quarts of strawberries are $12 each at the store. Tickets for the U-pick experience are $17 and include a quart of strawberries. When strawberry season winds down, July is for blueberry picking.

Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard is located at 130 Hardscrabble Road, North Salem. Visit harvestmoonandfarmorchard.com for more information.