Organic Strawberries?

[yoyo28]

Today at the Concord farmer's market I bought a 3 pack of organic strawberries for $6. However, the strawberries were just as big and nice-looking as the non-organic strawberries selling for $5. I thought that organic strawberries are generally smaller than non-organic ones, which is why I'm wondering if it's possible they were really selling non-organic ones and marking them as organic. Has this ever happened to anyone before, or am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

[Robert Lauriston]

Swanton (organic) sometimes has larger and smaller strawberries, and the smaller have more flavor. If I correctly remember what the woman at the stand told me, the larger ones are the first crop from the plants and the smaller ones are the second crop.

Organic farms usually plant varieties that were bred for flavor, while supermarkets often have less flavorful (or downright flavorless) varieties bred for size and color.

[Ruth Lafler]

I think that's less true now than it was a few years ago, as the new hybrids are more flavorful. I had tasted an absolutely awful organic strawberry from Lucero that she said was a Seascape, which is a variety also grown by Swanton, but which I think is usually muddy and bitter tasting.

[Robert Lauriston]

I've had some really good Seascapes. Which variety from which vendor I like best varies from year to year and over the course of a season. Two or three years ago I preferred Lucero's Seascapes to Swanton's Chandlers but since it's mostly been the other way around.

I'm going just by when they're dead ripe, I don't buy early in the season.

[JasmineG]

I think I tasted one of those Lucero strawberries a few weeks ago -- it was awful, and I was surprised, because I usually get great berries from Lucero.

[Aaron]

That's exactly right.
Within a given variety, the first year crop is much larger than the second year.

[Chardgirl]

Variety does matter: and how ripe the berry is when they pick it. Sometimes at farmers markets and groceries you'll find white shouldered/pink berries that are organic. Yes, they are organic, and they don't taste good because they were picked too early for shipping. some growers don't irrigate enough, that can also cause bitter berries.

cg

note: I've not grown strawberries at all for over 7 years and no longer attend any farmers markets.

[Ruth Lafler]

Mountain, definitely. Organic strawberries have come a long way, and there are quite a few organic growers (Yerena farms, for example) who have strawberries just as big and glossy as conventional strawberries. The size of the strawberry is more closely related to its variety than its cultivation methods.

[Scott M]

mountain out of a molehill. I purchased organic strawberries at Whole Foods and there were big and small alike.