Scottish strawberries are renowned throughout the world for being some of the best. Plump, juicy and bursting with flavour, they are hard to rival. Our climate seems to lend itself to growing soft fruit especially since famers have discovered polytunnels to extend the season. Scotland boasts a temperate climate with long days of sunlight allowing the fruit to ripen slowly, producing more sugar resulting in perfectly sweet berries. Whether it’s strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, brambles or any of the myriad of other soft fruits, they are all bursting with flavour.
It used to be, when we were wee, that strawberries weren’t ready until the Highland Show (a big date in a farming calendar), for normal people, that’s the third weekend in June. However, now Scottish strawberries are available from April right through until the beginning of November. Leaving only four dark months without these sunshine berries.
We get our strawberries from the Brown family at Easter Grangemuir Farm, just outside Pittenweem. We’ve tried many different producers and all are great, however we think that Ian and Sally’s are especially good. Ask any one of our customers and they would agree.
A few years ago they invested in a biomass boiler to heat their tunnels extending the season. Hence why we are able to get strawberries eight months of the year. Delivered fresh to us every morning, their strawberries are most definitely one of our best sellers while they are in season.
During covid Sally was kind enough to agree to do a live tour of their farm on our facebook page. It was amazing to see behind the scenes of such an vibrant local business. Just how they keep track of when the strawberries are ready to harvest and what goes where, I have no idea.
As well as supplying local shops, fish vans and supermarkets, Easter Grangemuir have a vending machine at the end of the farm road, called The Road End. Started by their children (as seen above) many years ago to get pocket money, what was once a small honest box, with the children topping it up, is now a container with vending machine selling everything from potatoes to fruit or flowers. It’s a must stop for locals and visitors who are lucky enough to stumble upon it.
If you are in our shop, or any shop in the East Neuk, look out for Pittenweem Strawberries, super sweet and perfectly in season, a whole punnet lasts just minutes in our house.
