Sweet, organic, very red… Alsace strawberries are in everyone’s mouth. For young and old alike, the free picking of these fruits has become a family and local activity.
Strawberries with whipped cream, smoothie, ice cream… To the delight of children and adults, free strawberry picking has opened at Duppigheim (Bas-Rhin). The principle has been offered since 2013 on this organic farming farm, where strawberries represent 40% of its turnover.
While the season started earlier than expected, it was under beautiful sunshine this Thursday, May 9 that several families and regulars came to enjoy themselves and go on a fun little outing. In the plantations, little hands are busy collecting the fruits. “They are delicious! I check if they are really red before picking them.”, explains Mahé, 7 years old.
“They are also organic so we know that we are giving good things to our children”, rejoices a mother who comes several times throughout the season. As the collection progresses, the baskets start to become very heavy. “We’re going to eat it every night”, smiles Marie-Claude, a regular picker.
On average, people leave with 2 to 5 kg of strawberries. The price is slightly higher than last year, explains producer Paul Heckmann: “We increased by 10 cents per kg, due to the rains which required a lot more weeding and mowing work.”
The strawberry harvest is an opportunity for many families to do a fun, local activity.
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© Guillaume Bertrand – France Télévisions
An increase which does not affect the pleasure of visitors. “It’s not very expensive, it’s organic, it’s local and the weather is nice: it’s a safe bet”, explains a regular for three years who brought his daughter. Around ten varieties will follow one another until the end of June.
