Our beautiful Great Southern region is blessed with sunshine, rain and excellent local produce. There are so many opportunities here for families to embrace the outdoors and learn through adventure and activity.
Here at Handasyde’s Strawberry Farm, we’re thrilled to share our locally crafted outdoor play area and delicious homemade treats with you. Your kids and grandies have probably met our two lovely young gents Boris and Beanie, the highland cow and donkey…but there might be one activity here that you haven’t tried yet, and it’s a beauty..!
It All Starts With an Empty Box..!
After kicking off your morning with a freshly brewed hot drink and a breakfast bagel, or a great value kid’s kinder box, get sun smart and eagle-eyed for some fresh air adventure with the family. We welcome you to pick box loads of strawberries in our dedicated picking paddock, and the best bit is – you can eat as many as you like as you go along..! Picking strawberries can be a fun and educational activity to share with family and friends. Purchase a strawberry picking box from one of our lovely team at the Cafe, then trundle along to the strawberry paddock with your brand new box.
Keep in mind how many strawberries you’ll need to cook and bake with when you get home. You might want a big hoard for making jam with. If you’re there just for the fun of it, try one box between the family. For a bit of both, it might be wise to get one box for the adults, and one for the children..! No doubt you’ll notice the difference between the strawberries the kids pick and the strawberries the adults pick. It could help to talk to your children about the visual differences between a plump red ready-to-pick strawberry and an unripe one..! Kids can run about seeking the best and biggest.
You can pick strawberries any day of the week at Handasyde’s Strawberry Farm – from after Christmas, right through to the end of the Summer holidays. An insider’s tip…think about starting off earlier in the day to beat the heat and get first dibs on the juiciest big red strawberries. When you get home, you could have a competition and see whose box of strawberries weighs more. There’s plenty of fun to be had.
Top Tips for Strawberry Picking:
1. Don’t set out on an empty stomach..!
Be fit and ready to gather a bumper load of berries. Swing into the cafe first for a breakfast bagel and freshly brewed beverage, and perhaps a kinder box or a little something for the kids. Be sure to skip to the loo too before heading to the paddocks.
2. Be Sun Smart
There’s no two ways about it – you’ve gotta slip slop slap, even on a cloudy day. Be sure to wear a sun hat and sun glasses, and it’s best to cover your skin with loose clothing when you’re out in the paddock. Strawberries are not tall plants, and so you won’t find any shade while you’re picking away. Water is an absolute must…bring a bottle each with you – it might come in handy for washing your hands as you go along, too.
3. Store Your Fruit
Strawberries taste their absolute best when they are freshly picked. That’s what makes the experience of strawberry picking at Handasyde’s so wonderful..! You can eat as many Strawberries as you like whilst you’re picking. But once you get home, don’t leave them on the side to pack away later…seize that freshness! Check out some great options for storing strawberries, here (link to blog about storing strawberries).
4. Try Something New (Recipes)
Picking a high volume of fresh strawberries opens so many doors when it comes to home baking and cookery..! After your family fun time in the paddock, you’ll have enough strawberries to make jams, chutneys, ice creams, sorbets, syrups and all sorts of amazing treats. Use this opportunity to try out a new recipe – you might just find it becomes a family favourite!
For starters, you could try out this idea – it’s one of our favourite fresh strawberry recipes – straight from Lyn Handasyde:
Strawberry Shortcake (Sour Cream Cake)
Difficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes40
minutes1
hourIngredients
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cups white sugar
125g unsalted butter cut into cubes
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
250g strawberries
2 eggs
Directions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Centigrade. Line a 9 inch cake tin.
- Cream butter with half a cup of sugar and the vanilla
- When the mixture is light and fluffy, mix in eggs one at a time.
- Add baking powder, sour cream and flour.
- Cut strawberries and fold through.
- Pour into the tin.
- Sprinkle the remaining quarter of a cup of sugar over the top.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
A Good Value Day Trip, Bringing Rich Rewards
Picking local seasonal produce like our delicious strawberries presents a wonderful
opportunity to connect your family to food and the outdoor environment. There’s bags (or
boxes..!) of potential to chat together about where food comes from, how it grows, how to
eat healthily and more. It’s a well-rounded family day out, giving physical activity, locally
produced food, fun and games and opportunities to cook up tasty rewards together
afterwards.
Four ingredients for a solid day out:
- Cafe and Play
- Pick Strawberries
- Cool down with Gelato or Sorbet
- Afternoon Baking at Home
Now is the time to embrace the Summer Sunshine and have fun harvesting our
sensational strawberries. Buy a box and fill it, and eat what you like as you go along..!
Whether it’s a one-off fun activity, or a regular seasonal family activity, we look forward to
seeing you soon at Handasyde’s Strawberry Farm. As always, we love to hear your
stories. Have you picked a box of strawberries and made something delicious with them?
