Overview
- The pick‑your‑own season has started in late May with some fields already open and more farms expected to welcome visitors by the end of the month.
- The Hessischer Landesverband für Erwerbsobstbau estimates roughly 60 to 70 farms in Hesse offer self‑picking, often across multiple fields.
- The Hessian agriculture ministry advises visitors to pick only fully red berries because strawberries do not ripen after harvest, harvest in the morning, pick with the calyx to extend freshness, and avoid fields after long rain.
- Growers report falling payment morale and poor visitor behaviour, with association chair Andreas Klein asking people to pay, stay off unsown rows and not trample crops to protect small‑farm income.
- Early harvests driven by tunnel cultivation and an unusually sunny February have produced earlier fruit in places such as Landkreis Kassel that sell at higher prices, and visitors can find nearby sites via the postcode directory erdbeergut.de.