How to pick a strawberry

Before you leave to go to the farm:
Always call before you go to the farm - strawberries are affected by weather (both rain and cooler temperature) more than most crops. And when they are in season, a large turnout can pick a field clean before noon, so CALL first!
Leave early. On weekends, then fields may be picked clean by NOON!
Most growers furnish picking containers designed for strawberries, but they may charge you for them; be sure to call before you go to see if you need to bring containers. If you use your own containers, remember that heaping strawberries more than 5 inches deep will bruise the lower berries. Plastic dishpans, metal oven pans with 3 inch tall sides and large pots make good containers.
Bring something to drink and a few snacks; you'd be surprised how you can work up a thirst and appetite! And don't forget hats and sunscreen for the sun. Bugs usually aren't a problem, but some deet might be good to bring along if it has been rainy.


Tips on How to Pick Strawberries
Grasp the stem just above the berry between the forefinger and the thumbnail and pull with a slight twisting motion.
With the stem broken about one-half inch from the berry, allow it to roll into the palm of your hand.
Repeat these operations using both hands until each holds 3 or 4 berries.
Carefully place - don't throw - the fruit into your containers. Repeat the picking process with both hands.
Don't overfill your containers or try to pack the berries down.


General Picking Tips

Whether you pick strawberries from your garden or at a Pick-Your-Own farm, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Be careful that your feet and knees do not damage plants or fruit in or along the edge of the row. Pick only the berries that are fully red. Part the leaves with your hands to look for hidden berries ready for harvest.
To help the farmers, also remove from the plants berries showing rot, sunburn, insect injury or other defects and place them between the rows behind you. If they are left in the plants, the rot will quickly spread to other berries.
Berries to be used immediately may be picked any time, but if you plan to hold the fruit for a few days, try to pick in the early morning or on cool, cloudy days. Berries picked during the heat of the day become soft, are easily bruised and will not keep well.
Avoid placing the picked berries in the sunshine any longer than necessary. It is better to put them in the shade of a tree or shed than in the car trunk or on the car seat. Cool them as soon as possible after picking. Strawberries may be kept fresh in the refrigerator for two or three days, depending upon the initial quality of the berry. After a few days in storage, however, the fruit loses its bright color and fresh flavor and tends to shrivel.
When you get home
DON'T wash the berries until you are ready to use them. Washing makes them more prone to spoiling.
Pour them out into shallow pans and remove any mushed, soft or rotting berries
Put a couple of days supply into the fridge, wash and cut the caps (green tops) off the others and freeze them up!

How to Freeze Strawberries!

(Also works for blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, tayberries, loganberries, saskatoons, cranberries, marionberries, boysenberries, etc.)

If you like strawberries in the winter, for cobblers, dessert, or just in a bowl; just imagine how good it would taste if you had picked a couple of quarts fresh or bought a them from a farm stand and then quickly froze them at home! It is also one of the simplest ways to put up a fruit for the winter. Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. Your own frozen strawberries will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store. Strawberries you must remove the hulls (the green cap) after washing, but otherwise the same

Directions for Freezing strawberries
Ingredients
fresh berries - any quantity
Equipment
a pan or tray that will fit in your freezer
a strainer or colander
Vacuum food sealer or "ziploc" type freezer bags (the freezer bag version is heavier and protects better against freezer burn.
Instructions
Step 1 - Get yer berries!
Start with the freshest strawberries you can get. Look for plump, full berries with a good color.
Step 2 - Wash and sort the strawberries.
Wash the strawberries in a bowl of plain cold water.
Then you need to pick out and remove any bits of stems, leaves and soft or mushy strawberries. It is easiest to do this in a large bowl of water and gently run your hands through the strawberries as they float. With your fingers slightly apart, you will easily feel any soft or mushy berries get caught in your fingers.

Step 3 - Drain the strawberries
Use a large sieve or colander to remove as much water as possible. I usually let them sit for about 10 minutes in the colander.

Step 4 - Spread the strawberries in a pan
there are two ways of doing this. If you have space in your freezer, spread the berries out in a large oven pan with a lip or ridge. Put enough on to make 1 layer. this way they will freeze quickly and not be frozen together in a lump, so later you can remove only what you need without thawing the rest.

If your freezer isn't that big, just drain as much of the water as you can, then put them into whatever container will fit in your freezer. After they are frozen, they may stick together a little bit, but should break apart fairly easily.

Step 5 - Put them in the freezer
Pop them into the coldest part of the freezer, or the quick freeze shelf, if your freezer has one!
I leave them in the freezer overnight, to get completely frozen.

Step 6 - bag the strawberries
I love the FoodSavers with their vacuum sealing! I am not paid by them, but these things really work. If you don't have one, ziploc bags work, too, but it is hard to get as much air out of the bags. remove the air to prevent drying and freezer burn. A tip for a low budget vacuum sealer:
To remove the excess air from a ziploc bag, put a straw inside the bag and zip it closed as far as possible. Then suck the air out of the bag, pinch the straw shut where it enters the bag and pull it from the bag and quickly zip the bag the rest of the way.

Step 7 - Label the bags!
Of course, you'll want to label them with the contents and date, or all this work could be wasted, if you can't identify them later, or don't know how old they are.

Step 8 - Done!
Pop them into the deep freeze, or in the coldest part of your regular freezer!
To use them, just set them in the fridge overnight, or on the counter for a couple of hours. I wouldn't recommend the microwave unless you are planning to cook with them!
Tips:
Harvest early in the morning, especially if the weather is hot, to get peak flavor.