Local farmers open their strawberry fields to West Tennesseans

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — With the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival under way this week, we set out to find where you can get fresh, locally grown strawberries.

“We pick three acres every day,” Green Acres Berry Farm owner Denton Parkins said.

 Whether you pick your own strawberries or just want to pick them up, a few local farms offer them straight from the vine to you.

“Strawberries are doing fabulous. We have about 10 acres, and the weather has been OK,” Parkins said. “Had a little bit of rain lately that caused a few problems, but the crops is excellent — good, heavy crop.”

The Green Acres Berry Farm in Milan picks for five hours every morning and sells every afternoon until they’re gone. With the Strawberry Festival in full swing, Parkins said business is booming.

“The Strawberry Festival being in our backyard is actually helping business, no doubt about that,” Parkins said. “So that’s a win-win for us.”

A quart of strawberries will cost you $3.75. If you refrigerate them, they should keep for about four or five days from the time they are picked.

If you want a more interactive experience, Falcon Ridge Farm in Toone offers the chance to pick your own every Saturday in May.

“You can come out, bring the kids if you want to. You’ll take a wagon ride out here to the field and we’ll charge by the pound,” owner Bart Gilmer said. “You can pick as many pounds as you care to pick.”

Gilmer said picking your own can be educational and give you a different perspective on where your food comes from.

“You want the strawberries to be completely ripe,” Gilmer said. “You don’t want a white top or white tip on it. When it’s red throughout, got a nice shiny sheen to it, it’s good to pick and it’s ready.”

The strawberry season starts the last week in April and typically lasts until the first week in June.