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Minnesota's in its peak strawberry-picking window

Strawberry season begins
Strawberry season begins 01:52

ANOKA, Minn. -- There's something sweet about finding the perfect strawberry.

"I just look to see how ripe they are, if they're too green put it back, and if red you keep it," David Wilson, from Ramsey, said. "Hope to get the red ones."

"It was a good crop this year," Evan Rowe said.

Rowe is the general manager at Berry Hill Farm in Anoka. He said there were around 500 customers that came through the family-run business Wednesday morning.

Strawberry picking has been in high demand in recent years.

"A lot of people that came out for that first time right around 2020 and they realized this was a great activity," Rowe said. "They found out store bought strawberries aren't that great."

Rowe says the cool spring only delayed strawberry picking by about a week in the north metro this year.

Berry Hill Farm, which has been open for close to three decades, opened for strawberry picking on Monday as the heat helped these strawberries ripen more quickly.

"We have some really tall plants which means we have a lot of shade and I think we all enjoy the shade more than the direct sunlight," Rowe said.

Rowe said it's a good idea with the high demand this early in the season to call ahead berry farms to make sure they're open. It's common they may close for a day to wait for strawberries to ripen.

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