Berry fans savor strawberry farm in Traverse City

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The ancient Romans believed strawberries alleviated symptoms of melancholy. Maddy Dohm just thinks they're yummy.

Nine-year-old Maddy spent a recent Saturday morning picking strawberries with her mother and younger brother at Urka's strawberry farm. Maddy happily confessed she pops more of the sweet, juicy red berries into her mouth than her basket, a not uncommon occurrence at the u-pick operation.

"Because that's when they taste better," Maddy explained.

"I haven't even put one in the basket," said 8-year-old Nicholas Wolf, who was picking while on vacation with his family.

John Urka has raised berries for 30 years and said his u-pick operations west of Kingsley and in Brethren attract a lot of families.

"The children have a ball in the strawberry fields and I love to see them come out with red faces," Urka said. "There's no chemicals and you can eat them right off the vine."

Urka said at $1.75 a pound his customers save about a third by picking the fruit themselves. Because northern strawberry varieties are soft, they don't ship well. That's why most store chains sell the firmer California strawberries.

"We can't compete in price with California berries but we can compete in flavor," Urka said.

Several pickers said those store-bought berries always look good, but you don't always know where they come from or how they are going to taste.

"These are Michigan berries, and you can't get Michigan berries at the store," Ronda Wolf said.

Patreece Zaleski of Buckley said Urka's berries are cheaper, fresher and better quality than store bought. But that's not the only reason she takes her family berry picking every year.

"It's about tradition and keeping the parts of your family together and that's hard when you're competing with television and computers," Zaleski said. "It's nice to do something together and then we're going to make jam."

Gary Lord said picking fresh fruit is part of his family heritage, something he learned from his parents who are in their 80s and still picking today.

"There's just something about doing it yourself," said Lord, as he waited for his son, a self-described picky berry plucker who eats more than he plucks, to fill his basket with about 12 pounds of spring's first fruit.

Urka plants six different varieties of berries, extending the harvest about four weeks. Cold weather delayed ripening about a week this year, but Urka said they have a good crop with about two weeks of picking left.

Lonny Urka, freshly retired from the U.S. Navy, shows novice and experienced pickers alike where to start, encouraging them along the way to sample the different varieties.

"Just one day can make a difference in the berry's flavor and like wine it's only going to be as good as its juice," Lonny Urka said.

Friendly advice and quality berries bring Gail and Gene Rokos of Traverse City back several times every year. Saturday was their fourth visit this season.

"I just enjoy the picking and the berries," Gail said. "It's nice picking here, you're not in mud, they're good berries and friendly people."

___

Information from: Traverse City Record-Eagle, http://www.record-eagle.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.