How to Pick Strawberries the Right Way—Plus, When to Do It

Is there any food more perfect than a freshly picked, perfectly ripe strawberry? Strawberry season is truly one of early summer’s greatest gifts, and capturing the berries at their peak only enhances their flavor. Strawberries are perennials that spread via runners, so starting with just a few plants can rapidly expand into a sizable strawberry bed. The rich sweetness of a fresh strawberry makes a delightful addition to any garden. Another benefit is that strawberries are among the summer’s earliest crops to mature. 

If you’re heading out to pick strawberries in your garden or at a strawberry farm, you’ll want to be sure you’re harvesting the strawberries at the correct time and in an ideal way. Here are our expert tips for harvesting and storing strawberries. 

How to Harvest Strawberries

Unlike other types of fruit, where you might use a picker or similar tool for harvesting, strawberries are generally harvested by hand.

1. Bend or break the stem with your thumb and pointer finger, about an inch up from the berry, says Annie Klodd, manager of interpretation and visitor learning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The stem should break easily.
2. Don't pull on the berry or press firmly on its flesh—that can damage the plant or the berry itself.

Strawberries can be somewhat fragile, and they can bruise easily if they’re handled roughly or bounced around too much during the harvesting process. So be gentle with your berries! Don’t drop the fruit into your container as you pick; instead, set each berry down carefully so it won’t jostle any more than it has to. Strawberries that are treated gently will last longer in storage. Even still, you’ll want to get them stored quickly, says Klodd. "Get them into cool temperatures ASAP after picking," she says.

When to Harvest Strawberries 

Exactly when you pick your strawberries is going to depend a lot on your climate. Naturally, warm spring-like weather arrives sooner in the south than in the north. The real key is to watch the fruit as it matures—after the blossoming phase, strawberry fruits begin as a pale green as they grow and only start to take on a tint of red as they become close to full size. 

It’s important to watch for uniformly bright red coloring before harvesting, says Dick Zondag, master gardener, horticulturist, and owner of Jung Seed Company. "The deeper the red, the more ripe they are. You should watch the berries, and when they start to turn red, sample them," he says. Zondag notes that the flavor, firmness, and sweetness of the berry are optimal after it turns red. "When the berries get a darker red they are sweeter, but soon will get soft and then will start to get a coating of fungus when they are over-ripe," he says.

There are three types of strawberries—June-bearing, everbearing, and day-bearing—and the specifics of when to harvest depends on the type of strawberry you're growing.

June-bearing

June-bearing strawberries start setting fruit in late spring and will successfully produce a nice crop of good-sized berries for two to three weeks or so. Your June-bearing plants should keep producing fruit every few days as you pick, giving you ample time to enjoy them before the heat of summer puts a damper on the harvest.

Everbearing

"With everbearing varieties, you will get some in the fall and some in the spring, but the total amount of fruit is quite a bit less for the everbearing," says Zondag. The upside is "you get fruits out of season in the fall," says Zondag. "They taste great then."

Day-bearing

Zondag notes that day-bearing strawberries produce fruits anytime during the season. "As soon as they initiate buds in the crowns they emerge immediately, and you get fruit even in the summer," he says.

How to Store Strawberries

With your harvest literally in the bag, you’ll want to store your fresh strawberries quickly, but even still, don’t expect the long-term storage that you might expect from other fruits. "[Strawberries] should be stored in the fridge," says Klodd. "If they are harvested ripe (fully red), they will only last a few days in the fridge and even less at room temperature."

Jennifer Rensenbrink, master gardener volunteer with the University of Minnesota Extension, concurs. "Garden-grown strawberries do not last as long as store-bought—they are bred more for sweetness than longevity," she says. "I love eating a fresh, sun-warmed strawberry right from the plant, but if you plan to store them for any amount of time, it's better to pick in the morning."

You can also easily store strawberries in the freezer to prolong their use. Wash the berries first; Klodd recommends then removing the strawberry tops and cutting them in half. "Space them out on a cookie sheet so they're not touching, and freeze them overnight like that. Then you remove them from the sheet into a zip-top bag and freeze them," she says. Another option is to freeze the berries whole for future use. "Wash, remove stems, and freeze them whole for smoothies or desserts," says Rensenbrink. 

And don’t forget to simply enjoy the strawberries fresh—they’re one of the best "fresh eating" treats from the garden!