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Want A Sweet Deal? Pick Your Own Berries

Tribune file photo (2008)

Fancy Farms will open its fields Saturday for U-pick to raise money for 4-H and Catholic Charities.

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 20, 2009

Updated: 03/20/2009 09:09 am

If you're crazy about fresh strawberries and don't mind getting your fingers stained with strawberry juice, you can save some money by visiting one of several strawberry farms in the Plant City area now open for U-pick.

Mark Harrell, the grower at Strawberry Station, 5805 Varn Road, opens his farm to U-pick on Monday.

"The season for shipping is fast coming to an end," Harrell said. "But there are still plenty of good strawberries in the field. We'll have the fields open for a few more weeks."

Harrell's farm is on Varn Road about 1.5 miles west of from Paul Buchman Highway (State Road 39). Berries are selling for two quarts for $1. The hours of operation weren't available.

A number of farms are open for U-pick; the list changes frequently, and one of the better sources for up-to-date information is The Tampa Tribune's classified advertising pages under "Farmers Market."

Here are a few of those open:

• Favorite Farms, on McIntosh Road, 1.5 miles north of Interstate 4, is also selling U-pick strawberries for two quarts for $1. Hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

• Spivey Farms, 6101 S. County Road 39 south of State Road 60, also has U-pick berries selling for two quarts for $1. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Call (813) 650-8999.

• Parke Family Hydrofarms, 3715 Tanner Road, Dover, has U-pick strawberries from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call (813) 927-4049.

All U-pick farms ask customers to bring their own containers.

Plant City fields generally open for U-pick after competing California berries enter the market.

Fancy Farms, which has a vegetable and strawberry stand at Rice Road and South County Line Road, is offering U-pick berries one day only, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Owner Carl Grooms opens the field each year for a day as a fundraising and community service event sponsored by the Hillsborough County Extension's 4-H Youth Foundation. The berries are $1 for two quarts for U-pick or $2 for two quarts already picked. Proceeds benefit 4-H and Catholic Charities.

"The local strawberry market will be good for a couple of weeks," Grooms said. "But the California berries are hitting the national market and shipping costs for our berries are high. But there are plenty of good berries in the field."

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451.

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