I’ll never forget the best strawberries I’ve ever eaten. It was 1997; I was in Munich, Germany, strolling on the outskirts of the Viktualienmarkt (a farm market in the center of the old town), when I walked past a vendor selling strawberries that smelled so intoxicating that I couldn’t do anything else but stop. The berries lived up to their fragrant aroma; they were perfectly sweet and juicy, with just a hint of tang. What was so amazing about these strawberries was how they absolutely melted in my mouth. Typically, with supermarket strawberries, firmness indicates ripeness; a strawberry that falls apart while eating is too far on the wrong side of rotten.
Which brings me to Sugartown Strawberries, a small farm that’s about a mile south of Paoli Pike, on Sugartown road in Malvern. Perhaps best known as a purveyor of pick your own (PYO) strawberries (which was unavailable last year and isn’t available yet this year), SS offers fresh produce at a small farm stand Spring through Fall, including strawberries, of course, as well as asparagus, squash, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn and tomatoes.