PYO - Picking Tips

These tips will help you get the most from your PYO experience.

1.  Pick only ripe fruit!
Ripe fruit tastes much better than half-ripe fruit. Generally un-ripe or half ripe fruit will not ripen satisfactorily once it has been picked. Strawberries should be red rather than orange. Similarly raspberries should be deep red rather than pink. Blackcurrants should be fully black with no green on them.

Blackberries should be fully black with no red on them. Cherries should be a deep red colour and the flesh should look plump. Boysenberries should be a very dark purple, almost black colour.

2.  Handle the fruit carefully! Correct picking technique will ensure your fruit is undamaged and will greatly increase its shelf-life. Strawberries are
particularly vulnerable to damage. When picking strawberries do NOT grip the berry with the finger-tips, instead gently support the berry in the palm of your hand while pinching the stalk between your thumb and forefinger. If your thumb nail is sharp enough you can cut the stalk with it, if it is not avoid pulling on the stalk as this will probably pull off a whole bunch of unripe fruit. In this case hold the stalk between thumb and forefinger of one hand while breaking it with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. Leave the stalks on the berries until just before serving as removing them will inevitably bruise the fruit and it will start to go mushy very quickly.

Cherries should also be picked by the stalks and the stalks left on. Take care not to break any woody spurs off with the stalks as this will reduce the crop next year.

3.  Containers
Feel free to bring your own containers to save you money and avoid waste but please let us to weigh them before you start to pick. This will allow us to calculate the amount to be deducted from the price for the weight of the container. If you prefer we can sell you containers at the checkout. These are very sturdy and are able to be used again and again.

Download a PDF version of our PYO Picking Tips