Strawberry season at Simcoe County farm marks special milestone

People are picking strawberries at Barrie Hill Farms in Springwater, Ont. (Barre Hill Farms)

A sweet summery and tasty tradition that’s been around for five decades at one Simcoe County farm is marking the milestone.

You know summer is here when it’s time to sink your teeth into a fresh and juicy Ontario strawberry to kickstart the summer season.

To recognize Barrie Hill Farms’ 50th harvest of pick-your-own strawberries, the farm will host a celebration on June 19, just in time for the strawberry season kickoff on June 20.

Dignitaries will be on-site, along with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m., followed by strawberry shortcake and refreshments at 11 a.m. and a wood-carving demonstration featuring a giant strawberry that will be carved on-site.

The event is free to attend.

Morris Gervais, farmer and owner at Barrie Hill Farms, says after strawberry season comes peas, raspberries, blueberries, sweet corn, fall strawberries, apples and pumpkins. So there will be no shortage of fresh and local produce ahead.

Gervais says the farm plans on planting two types of strawberries. Day-neutral strawberries, a type of plant that flowers and produces fruit consistently through the season, will be ready for August, September and October. The team has already started planting short-day or June-bearing strawberries, which will be ready for harvest next year.

The Gervais family bought the farm in 1968, and before growing strawberries in 1977, they grew tobacco.

Gervais says while we got a lot of snow this winter, it didn’t dip below minus 25 degrees Celsius, so the crops came through quite well.

The farm is getting set to open for another season. While strawberry season is still a little ways off, there’s asparagus to look forward to.

“People are excited for the first taste of a fresh, local vegetable, which is always asparagus,” says Gervais.

He says asparagus will be ready around May 8, which is average for the season.

The farm itself, with the market, will be up and running around that same time, which is Mother’s Day weekend.

Gervais encourages people to bring their mothers for a special Mother’s Day lunch on the farm, featuring asparagus soup and asparagus quiche.

Whether you pick your own strawberries and eat them right then and there or save them for a delectable, baked treat later or, perhaps, freeze them so they can last through the colder months, there’s really nothing like the experience.