Wind turbines spin lazily in the distance as the sun sets. I carefully walk up and down the rows, scissors and a plastic container in hand, hunting for the perfect strawberries. I’m in Lyford, Texas, of all places, picking strawberries.
It is a very surreal feeling to be this far south in the state and picking strawberries, I’d never considered they’d grow in the valley until I visited Salinas Family Farm. Turns out, strawberries can indeed thrive in South Texas.
Cruz Salinas, an agricultural expert and strawberry farmer, said strawberries was one of the many crops grown in the Rio Grande Valley before labor costs and the lack of mechanization made the crop unprofitable.
But more than five years ago, Cruz and his wife Joyce brought strawberries back to South Texas, half an acre at a time on their farm. They’ve quickly become famous for their “U Pick” events, which let visitors head out into their fields and take home the sweetest, ripest berries of their choosing (assuming the haul remains uneaten before the car ride home).
Cruz starts his strawberry crop thousands of miles away each year, as his transplants make their way to the Valley from California. Thankfully, due to the Valley’s more hospitable growing seasons, he can get them planted early, in late September or early October, and start spreading the splendor of his strawberries as soon as January.
It’s not easy getting strawberries to harvest, as Cruz can attest. If creatures with two legs like them, creatures with four legs (or wings) certainly don’t turn away from such a sweet snack. For that purpose, he uses a bird cannon, which creates a loud booming sound through pressurized air, to frighten away birds, and fencing to keep out rabbits and coyotes. Everything has to go just right to get the most out of the special crop, and things very rarely are perfect in agriculture.
As he and Joyce tend the fields together in the evenings, Cruz says, they will often look at each other and ask, “Why are we doing this?” Truth is, they do it because they love it and the people it brings in to share their fields. “The things that come out of it that money can’t buy outweigh the problems,” Cruz adds.
Bringing families together, sharing knowledge about how strawberries grow or simply just enjoying people as they experience the glorious taste of a perfectly ripe berry for the first time — these are what make the work worthwhile.
“As he and Joyce tend the fields together in the evenings, they will often look at each other and ask, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Truth is, they do it because they love it and the people it brings in to share their fields.”
As I stand in their field, my container bursting with lush strawberries, I watch as children hunt through the fields on their own quest for the biggest, the best, the reddest, the juiciest, the sweetest strawberries. And as I watch the parents enjoy their children’s enthusiasm, I get what Cruz means. There’s something so very special about this experience. Granted, I’m pretty jazzed about my strawberries. After an hour or two of hunting through the plants, I’ve amassed a selection that will make an excellent strawberry rhubarb pie. I’d say that’s a great way to enjoy the “fruit” of my labor.
If you’d like to attend a “U Pick” at the farm, keep in mind that all of these events are at the whim of Mother Nature and Lady Luck. Joyce handles the farm’s social media on their Facebook account, @SalinasFamilyFarm, where she posts the “U Pick” notices throughout the season for however many people they can accommodate that day. The faster you sign up, the better. Keep in mind, these events are extremely in demand so you might have to wait a while before it is your turn.
“To this day it takes about five minutes to fill our list. We’ve had some people waiting two or three years,” Joyce says.
“U Pick” events are $5 to $6 per box of strawberries picked, with a very generous interpretation by the Salinas couple of when your box is deemed “full.”
If you’d just like to try strawberries from the Salinas Family Farm, you can catch Cruz selling them at the Harlingen Farmer’s Market, which meets on Saturdays starting at 3 p.m. on Tyler Avenue and 2nd Street.
