Warm weather and spring sunshine mean strawberry picking season is underway in East Tennessee.

Despite the wet start to spring, sweet and juicy strawberries are prime for picking in most areas of the state, especially Northeast Tennessee. If you are looking for the freshest berries, you need to go straight to the farm.

“We are seeing more ripe strawberries by the day,” a spokesman for Scott Farms in Unicoi County, said earlier this week. “The more sunshine, the more berries we will have ready to pick. We hope to have ripe strawberries well into June.

“Spring got off to a cool start but there were some hot days and sunshine this week, which will continue until next week. This will quickly turn the area’s strawberry fields red, and will make the berries sweeter,” said the Scott’s Farm spokesman.

The traditional season lasts about four to six weeks, depending on weather — so the strawberries won’t last long.

The Scotts have been selling their produce to the public since 1959, when Wayne and Mary Lou Scott moved to the farm in Unicoi. They raised five children on that farm, two of whom are still full-time farmers today. Brothers Steve and David have degrees in horticulture and agriculture respectively, and use their experience and education to work hard and to maintain the level of standards that their parents set for them years ago.

Wayne Scott was a high school agriculture teacher who dreamed of putting what he taught to practice. Wayne and his wife, Mary Lou (Ritchie), who grew up on Stoney Creek, worked hard for many years and built a very reputable name not only in the strawberry business but also in the tomato business as well as half runner beans and sweet corn.

Needless to say, farming has not only been just a job but a way of life for the Scott family. Even with the changes and demands affecting farming, there’s an optimistic drive that farmers share. “When farming, you make a living and enjoy what you are doing at the same time,” Steve Scott says. “Even with all the changes, I still enjoy farming.”

The Scotts take pride in their livelihood and strive to offer a high quality, fresh and safe product for consumers. Strawberries are the first major crop of the year, beginning in May and typically lasting until mid-June. The Scotts sell their strawberries straight from the farm and throughout East Tennessee. You can find their berries at local Food City stores and roadside stands locally, in Knoxville, Greeneville, Morristown, Unicoi, Johnson City and Bristol. Locally, a stand is located in West Town Square Shopping Center across from Pizza Inn.

Strawberries are Scott Farm’s first crop of the season. The strawberries are picked fresh each day and sold at their retail sales stands. The delivery times for the retail stands vary due to weather conditions each day. It is best to call the office or visit their strawberry page for the most up to date delivery information.

In addition to Scott Farm’s strawberries, some local fruit stands including Farmer John’s and Lambert’s sell strawberries from Cooley Farms in South Carolina.

Strawberries get all their sweetness from sunshine, and with just enough rain to keep berries growing without getting waterlogged, this may be a banner year for one of the state’s favorite crops. Strawberry season doesn’t last long however, so pickers need to be prepared.

OLD-FASHIONED

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

When I was growing up, my parents raised their own strawberries, and some years they had strawberries to sell. They sold them for $1.25 a gallon (that was several years ago), and my mother measured them out in a gallon crock, and she always gave a heaping gallon, which was more like five quarts.

Many of the strawberries we grew were bagged up and put in the freezer for winter eating. Some were made into freezer jam.

For the best breakfast ever, my mother would cut the strawberries up fine, sugar them, and spoon them over hot buttered biscuits. That was some good eating!

She also made Strawberry Shortcake the old-fashioned way. Strawberry shortcake now begins with one of those little cake cups. You know, the ones in that little package that you always see beside the fresh strawberries each year. They usually come about six to the pack and they’re conveniently stacked in the fruit and produce section right beside of the season’s supply of fresh strawberries. And, more times than not, you’ll find those bags of strawberry “gel” that you’re being coaxed into thinking is the perfect way to add some juice to your berries.

But, it was a different time and world when I was growing up. We didn’t have those little round cake cups, nor the strawberry “gel.”

My mom’s strawberry cake was made of sweet biscuit dough, and, oh, was it so good.

I recently came across a recipe that is the next best thing to my mother’s strawberry shortcake.

INGREDIENTS

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups strawberries prepared with sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup shortening, Crisco etc.

1 egg

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 container Cool Whip or whipped cream of choice

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all dry ingredients — flour, baking powder, sugar and salt — in a sifter. Sift into a large mixing bowl.

Add the shortening, cut into flour with a fork.

Break egg into the measured amount of milk. Whisk together.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mix.

Use a fork and stir together to form a dough.

Remove from bowl and place on a floured counter top or board.

Knead the dough until smooth.

Shape the dough into a ball, pat into a circle about one inch thick.

Cut the circle into half.

Shape each half into a ball. Let dough rest for a few minutes.

Flour the surface again. Roll out each half into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick or just pat out by hand.

Grease a baking sheet or baking pan with shortening.

Place the rolled out flour dough into the pan.

Sprinkle the top generously with more flour. Brush away any lumps.

Roll out the remaining dough ball and place on top of the first already in the pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 25-35 minutes, until done.

Remove from oven, place pan on towel or rack and let cool about 5 minutes.

Carefully lift the top layer up from the bottom layer and set aside.

Brush the inside parts of both layers generously with butter.

Place the two pieces back together.

Cut in half lengthwise, then into thirds to make six servings.

Assemble the shortcakes.

Place the bottom layer of one section on a serving plate.

Top with sugared berries and lots of juice.

Add a good scoop of whipping cream.

Top this with the top layer of the cake.

Add more berries and juice, a little more whipped cream and, then garnish with a fresh strawberry, fan sliced. (My mom also sprinkled the bread with a little sugar, making it sweeter)

Serve and Enjoy!

NOTES

Prepared Strawberries with Sugar: We suggest you use 1 cup of sugar per one quart of fresh strawberries for this recipe. Strawberries must be capped, washed, sliced and combined with sugar.

WHY ARE

STRAWBERRIES

CALLED STRAWBERRIES?

One theory is that woodland pickers strung them on pieces of straw to carry them to market. Others believe that the surface of the fruit looks as if its embedded with bits of straw. Still others think that the name comes from the Old English word meaning “to strew,” because the plant’s runners stray in all directions and look as if they are strewn on the ground.

The June full Moon is called the Strawberry Moon because when this Moon appeared, it signaled that it was time to start gathering ripening fruit.