My strawberry confession: the best strawberries I've ever had in my life came to my table at K-Paul's Kitchen in New Orleans in 1982. They were no bigger than the tip of my thumb; they were small and sweet and red and I've never forgotten them. They were the kind of strawberries that make you feel six years old again.
Since then, these berries have haunted me. California strawberries disappointed me horribly when I moved here in the Seventies. No wonder: I hadn't discovered farmers markets and was shopping at Von's and Safeway. It's no secret that berries that are grown to ship well will taste wretched: they'll be hard and durable and sour and watery. They're grown with poisons. They are not strawberries, not for my money. So I lived without buying strawberries until pretty recently.
A couple of years ago, I had occasion to go up north of Santa Cruz to Swanton Berry Farm, to photograph it for an upcoming dinner with Outstanding in the Field. The four-acre farm is situated on a beautiful stretch of the coast, in the undeveloped farmland between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. You can stop in between 8 AM and 6 PM and pick up baskets or flats of Chandler or Seascape strawberries to go. "No, thanks, I don't need a bag: they won't be making it home," is an oft-heard statement inside the little farmstand there. You can also stop and eat a strawberry shortcake with a cup of coffee at one of the blue picnic tables, decorated with old-fashioned strawberry-print tablecloths. It's very sweet inside the store. They also sell jams, gelato and sorbet, chocolate-dipped strawberries, pie, and other home-baked confections.
The dinner itself was wonderful: guest chef Justine Miner from RNM Restaurant in San Francisco turned everything she touched into gold. It was one of the Five Perfect Farm Dinners I've had the pleasure of photographing. The strawberry desserts were part of the perfection. Thankfully, she included dark chocolate—milk chocolate's for babies!
Last year, we had a heat wave in March. The berries that came to the markets were the most amazingly sweet and perfect strawberries I've had since my lunch at K-Paul's Kitchen. It's been twenty-odd years since I was gobsmacked by a strawberry, and these strawberries made me feel like I was six years old again. I bought them all summer long: not only from Swanton, but from Live Earth Farm and from Joe Schirmer at Dirty Girl Farm.
Yesterday I headed back up Highway One with Logan. Logan is a ShopVac when it comes to strawberries. He sucks them up with abandon. I knew this would be a good outing for us: how can you go wrong with tractors and strawberries?
Before I went, I visited their web site. I already knew the coolest thing of all is that farmer Jim Cochran made Swanton Berry Farm "the first organic farm in the US to sign a contract with the United Farmworkers of America AFL-CIO and to carry the Union label." You can read more about the history of that here. Beyond that, I learned that Swanton Berry Farm primarily grows two kinds of strawberries (until and unless they discover tastier ones): Chandler and Seascape. They don't overfertilize or overwater, as those may promote bigger and more abundant fruit, but would compromise the flavor. Swanton strawberries are not only sweet, they are aromatic and dripping (literally) with flavor. I can't count the kids at the farmers markets with dripping, red chins. My mother always said you have to eat a good peach over the kitchen sink (we're from Georgia), and maybe the same applies to strawberries—at least where the kids are concerned.
As usual in Davenport, it was breezy and cold. Logan looked like Donald Trump with a bad combover a lot of the time. I let him play on the tractor after we'd bought a half-flat of strawberries and eaten a strawberry shortcake. Wendy and her daughter (whose name I did not get, sorry) were so friendly and helpful to everyone who came in. The place had a constant stream of customers: locals and city folks. Logan enthusiastically endorses the strawberries but wouldn't hold still to be photographed inside.
The berries were sale-priced at $12/half-flat (six baskets)--the fortuitous (for us) result of someone forgetting to take 20 flats to the farmers market on Saturday. We also got two large artichokes and the strawberry shortcake. Grand total: $19. I feel like a queen doling out the strawberries to my slavish followers (three little boys known as Rowan, Aidan, and Logan).
If you're making the coastal drive near Davenport (north of Santa Cruz about 12.5 miles), look for the yellow farm truck. (Don't be fooled by the Other Family Farm who put out a truck to lure people in. They're south of Davenport.) Swanton Berry Farm stand is 2 miles north of Davenport. The stand is 46.5 miles south of Half Moon Bay.
The Coastways Ranch, site of the U-Picks, is 8.5 miles to the north of the farm stand, on Highway One, just a little south of Año Nuevo Reserve.
Finally, the Swanton Berry Farm website is very thoroughly developed. If you seek information about organic or sustainable farming, go there.
***** Highly recommended. It's how they grow these berries that make them the kind of strawberries you'll remember: the strawberries of dreams.
© 2005 Tana Anderson Butler, all rights reserved, period.
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