New York State Strawberry Harvest Will be Starting Soon!

BLOOMFIELD, NY (06/04/2007)(readMedia)-- Locally grown strawberries from New York farms will soon be ready for harvesting and picking. May gave us good sunshine and dry, favorable growing conditions. The crop is expected to be good in 2007.

New York growers have many varieties planted to bring on early season berries, and extend the harvest so consumers can enjoy fresh berries through early July.

Locally grown and picked strawberries come from the fields at the peak of their ripeness. Consumers need to be aware that the varieties grown on local farms are not the same as many varieties available in grocery stores shipped in from other areas. Local strawberries have superior taste and freshness.

Strawberries are high in vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fiber. Just eight strawberries have the equivalent vitamin C as a glass of orange juice, and contain only 46 calories of a delightfully sweet, fat free fruit.

Strawberries are packed with antioxidants, which science tells us are key to warding off diseases like heart disease and cancer. The anthocyanins are the antioxidants that make the berries red, and these are efficiently absorbed into the body.

Strawberries add good taste and lively color to any meal. They can be enjoyed fresh or be frozen to make some jam or jelly later. Kids smile when they bite into a big, juicy freshly picked strawberry!

The New York State Berry Growers Association members are primarily local strawberry farms with retail stands and/or u-pick berry patches. To find a local farm in your vicinity or county, please go to our website www.nysbga.org. Consumers interested in finding local farms and timing of strawberry harvest will be able to search on the “find a farm” section of the home page to locate local berry growers. Plus, the site has some additional nutritional benefits of eating strawberries.

Interested parties in the press can also search the site to contact growers about local harvest conditions and their individual farms.

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