It’s strawberry time in Tennessee! The sweet little guys typically turn red the first week of May, and only have a few weeks to grow, so grab some while they’re fresh.

And if your impression of strawberries is the large, flavorless, crunchy, dry, imported items with a large white core from the big grocery stores, you are sadly misinformed. I encourage you to try a small, ripe, juicy berry, warm from the Murfreesboro sun, straight from the plant.

The beautiful red fruit, packed with vitamin C, can be used as a sweetener (strawberry milk is nice), in desserts (strawberry pie, strawberry shortcake, strawberry charlotte), and just popping the berries by themselves is totally fine.

Strawberries thrive worldwide in a variety of climates, from France to Chile to Korea, but the U.S. is by far the world’s leading producer.

A few operations in the area offer strawberries for sale, as both pick-your-own and pre-picked.

On East Jefferson Pike, the Pearcy family has “four and a half acres, just about weed and dirt free,” said Steve Pearcy.

“Up until about mid-May they’ll be organic, then we’ll have to start feeding them,” Pearcy said of his berries.

The Pearcy family has had berries at that field at P and P Farms for about 14 years, and they are also available at the family business, Pearcy’s Store, located at 96 Lascassas Road.

“We’re like a family-owned co-op, right in the heart of Lascassas,” Pearcy said. “Farming-wise, there’s not a lot we don’t have.”

New this year, berry-pickers can pluck some without having to leave Murfreesboro.

Brandon Whitt has grown a variety of crops at a family field nestled just off I-24, adjacent to the Chamber of Commerce building, across from Embassy Suites and the Avenue.

“It’s something different every year,” Whitt said. “We’ve grown corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton there.”

But this year, the field hosts rows and rows of strawberry plants.

Brandon Whitt and son Thomas have been hard at work in the berry fields preparing for May’s harvest.

“This is our first year doing berries there,” Whitt said. “We’ll be gearing up about the first of May.

“We’ll have some pre-picked, but we’re encouraging pick-your-own.”

Batey’s Berries, as that operation is known, will sell strawberries by the pound, and pricing will be determined based on the field’s production, he said.

Being in such a high-traffic area, and it being the first year of berry picking there, make it a little hard to estimate the initial year’s demand, but Whitt predicts the berries will go fast.

“Everything’s first-come, first-serve,” he said. “We’re encouraging people to make it a family outing. It’s just something that’s fun to do. It’s not very labor intensive; you can pick a gallon in about 10 minutes.”

Batey’s Berries will be open every day except Sunday throughout the season, and the family may make some of the products from its nearby hog farm available as well.

Batey’s Berries is located at 3250 Medical Center Pkwy., Murfreesboro. For more information, call (615) 848-4178.

P and P Farms is located at 2841 E. Jefferson Pike, Lascassas. For more information, call (615) 812-8788.

And if you’re up for a little Tennessee spring road trip, both Portland and Dayton, Tenn., have their Strawberry festivals lined up the week of May 4-11, both filled with concerts, races, car shows, pageants, parades, pancakes and plenty of strawberries.

Photos by Bracken Mayo.