What to do with all those strawberries

All the local berry farms like Bee Tree Berry Farm and Way Fruit Farm are in full strawberry mode. You can find great deals at these farms via “U-pick” specials, where you go out and do all the harvesting work.

It’s a great way to get delicious local strawberries that are so much better than the ones in the supermarket in December. Of course, your eyes are bigger than your stomach when out in the field picking strawberries, so you might overdo it and have lots of leftover strawberries. So what to do if you have extras?

Continue Reading: What to do with all those strawberries

Tags: strawberries | strawberry |

Local Food Notes for June 24

Pick-your-own raspberries and strawberries, Tait Farm Foods cocktail session, Caitlin’s Smiles benefit at Big Springs Spirits, and Elk Creek’s Sunday music series, all in this week’s Local Food Notes

Continue Reading: Local Food Notes for June 24

Tags: LocalFoodNotes | strawberries | raspberries | TaitFarm | ElkCreek | BigSpring |

Strawberry shortcake, PA Dutch style

It’s still strawberry season, but it’s on the wane. You can still find fresh, local strawberries at places like your local farmers market or favorite roadside stand.

What about pick-your-own? There are a few opportunities for pick-your-own strawberries, including the following (make sure to call ahead to confirm there are still strawberries):

Continue Reading: Strawberry shortcake, PA Dutch style

Tags: recipe | strawberries |

Strawberry season nearing end, but there’s still time!

It’s strawberry season and I could not be happier! The strawberries in my garden are ripe enough to pick everyday, despite the chipmunk that wants to eat them—he sometimes sneaks under our chicken wire fence to sample a few! The strawberries look lovely at the various farmers markets and the PA strawberries that are being sold in local grocery stores are plump and juicy!

Way Fruit Farm is a great place to take the family for strawberry picking. But with all the rain, the strawberries might have a shorter season this year, as a recent e-mail from them informed. So get there soon for the best berries.

Continue Reading: Strawberry season nearing end, but there’s still time!

Tags: recipe | strawberries | WayFruitFarm |

Recipe: Strawberry mint yogurt smoothie

There are two tasty items that are in season at the farmers markets: strawberries and mint. Finding a use for strawberries is easy: they are fantastic for fresh eating, and there are countless strawberry recipes out there. In my experience, mint is one that stumps people as to how to use it. Sure, it can used in teas and as a garnish, but what about other uses of fresh mint?

One way to use it is in beverages. This recipe for a strawberry mint yogurt smoothie is a great example of how mint can play off other flavors. In this case, it helps to enhance the strawberry flavor with something extra, and the yogurt gives it a nice creamy texture for a refreshing smoothie for those warm June days.

Continue Reading: Recipe: Strawberry mint yogurt smoothie

Tags: recipe | strawberries |

Strawberry time is just around the corner

You scream, I scream, we all scream for…STRAWBERRIES! Yes, it is almost that time of year again! One of the greatest aspects of living in Centre County is all the fantastic fresh fruit and vegetables we can get all summer long. And it starts with strawberries.

There are strawberries we can pick at a U-pick farm such as Way Fruit Farm in Port Matilda. They are expecting their berries to be ripe anytime from June 1 to June 8 this year. A fun family activity is picking berries together—-make it a game and find out who can pick the biggest bucketful. Call Way to find out specific dates, or better yet, sign up for their emails at http://www.wayfruitfarm.com/mail.php.

Continue Reading: Strawberry time is just around the corner

Tags: strawberries |

Your Local Food Weekend for June 14-15

This weekend, you can enjoy pick-your-own strawberries, a Strawberry Festival in Lemont, wine and cheese tastings, and blues and soul to go with your local beer at the Gamble Mill Inn.

Continue Reading: Your Local Food Weekend for June 14-15

Tags: LocalFoodWeekend | strawberries |

Strawberry fields producing now

It’s getting to be that time of year. You know that time when you are out hiking and you’re keeping your eyes peeled for them, or waiting patiently at your local farmers market for them to arrive. It’s that time that strawberries can be found.

Continue Reading: Strawberry fields producing now

Tags: strawberries | recipe | memories |

Winner of the Strawberries Recipe Contest

Congratulations to Nancy Cord-Baran of State College! She is the winner of our June strawberries recipe contest and the recipient of a $25 gift certificate to Harrison’s Wine Grill & Catering.

Thank you to everyone who participated—continue reading to see all of the strawberries recipe submissions. And stay tuned for the start of our July recipe contest. Details to come!

Continue Reading: Winner of the Strawberries Recipe Contest

Tags: recipecontest | strawberries |

Final Day of the Strawberries Recipe Contest

Strawberry season has sadly come to an end. What is the best thing you made this month with summer’s first berries? Share it today for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Harrison’s Wine Grill in State College. Today is the final day to enter the contest, so submit your recipe now!

Looking for inspiration?

Continue Reading: Final Day of the Strawberries Recipe Contest

Tags: recipecontest | strawberries |

Three Minute Gardener: How to Renovate a Strawberry Patch

After the June harvest of strawberries, patches should be renovated in preparation for the following year. Penn State Senior Extension Educator Kathy Demchak explains why these renovations are important and how to complete them.

Watch the video.

Continue Reading: Three Minute Gardener: How to Renovate a Strawberry Patch

Tags: strawberries | farming |

Simple Strawberry Cake

Strawberry season is my favorite season; though it is a short one. Throughout the month of June, I enjoy strawberries on my morning cereal and swirled into yogurt, tossed with spinach salad, on top of shortcakes and waffles, and layered with vanilla cake and cream cheese frosting. We also currently have four quarts in the freezer just begging to be thawed and consumed.

Continue Reading: Simple Strawberry Cake

Tags: recipe | spring | summer | strawberries |

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Have you submitted your favorite strawberries recipe for the June contest? Share it today for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Harrison’s Wine Grill in State College.

Enjoy this favorite from Tait Farm Foods.

Continue Reading: Strawberry Vinaigrette

Tags: recipe | spring | summer | strawberries |

Field Notes: A Hopeful Start to Summer

It’s not that it’s been a bad year for farmers in our region, or that it’s going to be one, but it sure has been a rough spring. We’re still seeing the somewhat disappointing effects of it, but it will soon be behind us. And, fortunately, summer season is looking great!

Continue Reading: Field Notes: A Hopeful Start to Summer

Tags: strawberries | fieldnotes |

Field Notes: Strawberry-Rhubarb Dessert Bars

Tait Farm’s CSA, Community Harvest, kicked off its main season in mid-May with a bang! To see the excitement on our CSA members’ faces when they picked up their “share” of asparagus, Swiss chard, salad mix, and more was so gratifying. We work hard to produce this food, and people couldn’t wait to get home to eat it. Ideas spouted left and right for favorite green garlic recipes and grilled asparagus.

It’s a comforting bustle of people who love being a part of our CSA. Eating is something we all have to do everyday anyway, and when the ingredients are fresh, organic, and seasonal, it adds a whole other ingredient to the meal: contentment.

Continue Reading: Field Notes: Strawberry-Rhubarb Dessert Bars

Tags: recipe | spring | strawberries | rhubarb | fieldnotes |

Strawberries Recipe Contest

How do you like to eat strawberries? Tossed in a salad? Layered in a trifle? Dipped in chocolate? Or sprinkled with sugar and set on shortcakes?

Share your favorite strawberries recipe with the Local Food Journey blog for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Harrison’s Wine Grill & Catering in State College.

Continue Reading: Strawberries Recipe Contest

Tags: recipecontest | strawberries |

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

A traditional chocolate cake with fluffy white frosting is a fine dessert choice, but during the month of June, why not choose a seasonal strawberry shortcake cake?

Continue Reading: Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Tags: recipe | summer | strawberries | dessert |

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This simple summer salad combines tender spinach leaves and fresh sliced strawberries with a sweet dressing and crunchy sunflower seeds.

Continue Reading: Strawberry Spinach Salad

Tags: recipe | summer | strawberries | spinach |

Berries from Baronner’s Farm Market in Hollidaysburg

Strawberry season is a short one. Or perhaps it’s no shorter than blueberry season or blackberry season, but because the strawberry is my favorite fruit, its season just can’t be long enough.

Continue Reading: Berries from Baronner’s Farm Market in Hollidaysburg

Tags: market | strawberries |