strawberry picking in central florida

The parents of a med-tech friend working at Florida Hospital Altamonte were visiting from Cebu City, Philippines for a three-month vacation last winter. My cousin—who’s the authority on out-of-the-way jaunts in our neck of the woods—suggested strawberry picking.

It wasn’t a cold November so we packed our hineys into her van and off we went to Vo-Lasalle Farms for said strawberry picking.

the welcome mat at Vo-Laselle Farms in De Leon Springs, FL.
yes, that's the Tin Woodman from the Wizard of Oz...
or a semblance of it, leastways.

strawberry fields forever!

more strawberries plants, no fruits yet

Did I say we brought my hyperactive nephew along?

He’s in that twilight between the docile 1s and the terrible 2s but set him free in a wide open space and he’s off running and skipping to and fro, exploring the place.

running after a little dynamo and taking pictures while you're
mid-stride isn't good for a calm gut.

my adorable little nephew was all over the place, inspecting things
with the curiosity of a thousand cats.

Sadly, the strawberries weren’t ready yet only the tomatoes so we weren’t able to pick any fruit.

strawberries in waiting

What we did though is say “Hi!” to a white horse across the fence...or I tried to convey a semblance of a greeting but I've never been up close and personal with a potentially cranky horse so I contented myself with a look...from a safer distance.

hiya there, big fella! easy boy... don't bite me, 'kay?

I took lots of pictures of the farm's awesome soilless growing system—my closet vegetable gardening geek was having fun inspecting the stacked containers, wondering how we could replicate the whole thing in our itsy bitsy farm.

hydroponics containers ready for planting

the soilless system a little closely now

A little something about Vo-Lasalle Farms:

For a minimal fee per container (I forgot how much), you can pick strawberries, tomatoes, herbs, spices and other vegetables like pepper and lettuce. The farm is open everyday, from 9 in the morning 'til 4 in the afternoon, except of course on Sundays.

The brochure says strawberry-picking dates are from November 15 to April 15 but we were there on the 27th of November and yet no berries so that's a relative schedule. Best to call ahead (their published phone numbers are 386-985-4191 or 386-985-0046) so you won't waste a journey if you're looking for some berries.

The trip is well worth the effort though as their setup is very educational, especially for new gardening nuts like me who're wanting to know everything there is to know about gardening.

Btw, besides the strawberry, they also sell oranges, spinach, lettuce and a lot of canned (or bottled?) vegetables and fruits so there's a lot to choose from.

oranges fresh from Vo-Lasalle's orchard

lettuce, lots and lots and lots of lettuce

oh, the welcoming committee includes this little, er, critter:

i think i heard one of the ladies manning the store say that this
alligator skull is from one they captured from
the lake beside the farm

Visit Vo-Lasalle's website for more information now »

(This is not a paid post.)