South Sound berry season is here! Where to find the first of the strawberries
Berry season is the South Sound’s summer holiday. When we get word of the first harvests plucked from the vines, carefully packed in teal pulp-fiber baskets, we plan our week around pickup time. Sweet cherries are also making their way to Puget Sound from Chelan.
Consider this your reminder!
Spooner Farms in Puyallup started selling strawberries this week on the farm and at farm stands in Orting, Buckley (Buckley Eagles) and Puyallup (Farm 12).
At local farmers markets, pickup time kicks off Saturday, May 30 at the Proctor Farmers Market in Tacoma and the Puyallup Farmers Market at Pioneer Park.
The Proctor market shared in its newsletter this week that “two of early summer’s favorite fruits arrive together this Saturday.”
Sidhu Farms and Spooner Farms, both in the Puyallup Valley, will be at the market May 30 with the season’s strawberry debut. You can also find both farms at the Puyallup market on Saturdays in Pioneer Park and the Tacoma Farmers Market on Broadway on Thursdays.
Collins Family Orchard also will be stacked with the season’s first sweet orbs of cherries from Chelan at the Proctor market.
Puyallup, Olympia berry season begins
The season usually begins around the end of May or early June in Western Washington, where most of the state’s berry production happens, according to Washington State University researchers. Whatcom and Skagit counties grow more than Pierce by volume, but the region’s generally temperate climate — mild winters and summers — nurture optimal growing conditions for the delicate fruit up and down Interstate 5.
Fluctuations can cause problems, as farms experienced in 2022 after the bizarre heat wave of 2021 followed by a rollercoaster spring of unusually high, unusually low temps along with heavy rains and hailstorms. Puyallup Valley farmers didn’t begin picking until mid-June that year, and harvests were small and short-lived, as The News Tribune reported at the time.
Much of the state’s crop — which accounts for about 1% of the country’s total output, compared to a whopping 90% majority coming out of California, per WSU — ends up not fresh but frozen and shipped across the United States., or jarred for jam. The little gems don’t enjoy being smushed into shipping containers, hence why we love them fresh off the vine from the farmers markets.
Other area farms expect to begin harvesting in the first week or so of June, lasting through early July.
Picha’s Farms, also in Puyallup, will have several varietals of strawberries for sale and available for U-Pick, according to its website: Puget Crimson, Shuksan, Totem, Sweet Sunrise, Charm, Hood and Marys Peak. By July, the farm will have raspberries and blackberries — only available harvested and packed by the crew.
In Olympia, Spooner Berry Farms and Johnson Berry Farm also anticipate harvests to land along with the month of June. According to a Facebook post from Spooner on May 12, “The crop is looking incredible this year!!”
They anticipate their first strawberries to be available for purchase by June 8. The Olympia Farmers Market also runs four days a week during the high season, Thursday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
As July and August roll around, head to the market for other bite-sized delights, including tayberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, loganberries, blueberries and the region’s beloved marionberries.
You can track down local farms, farm stands, U-Picks and more resources for berry bonanza — and other local food and farm goods — with the Eat Local First Food & Farm Finder.