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It's the season for spring strawberries now, and I love those little strawberries they sell at the farmers' markets. Trouble is, when I get them home they have begun to macerate. How do I get them home so they still look fresh?

I grew up and still live in the heart of Oregon's strawberry growing country and have never had this problem with the delicate berries I buy from growers or at farmers' markets. The berries always come in 1 pint square green pasteboard boxes and if you buy 6 boxes the boxes are in a cardboard crate. Are your berries packaged this way? I would never buy berries in a plastic bag. I always make sure to keep the berry boxes on top of any other produce I might buy in a very sturdy insulated bag if I am only buying a box or two. I never put them in the sun or a hot trunk of a car and get them home as soon as possible which for me is usually only 10 minutes or so. Then I put the berries in a cool place if I am not using them immediately knowing I must use them the same day. Our local berries are extremely flavorful but only grown to be trucked quickly to a packing plant to be made into jam, frozen berries, syrups, etc. or sold to people who live here. They are never shipped any distance because they would not hold up. I bet your strawberries are like ours and maybe you are letting them get too warm or a bit squished before you get home. Once you buy these kind of strawberries you have to head home ASAP.

Do your farmers offer you-pick berries in your region? That is a guaranteed way of knowing your berries are fresh and well taken care of. It also pays to know your farmer at the farmers' market. The ones I buy from pick the berries early in the morning before the market. Maybe the berries you had problems with were picked the day before and held in cold storage which can be hard on delicate berries. Try to get to the market really early so the berries haven't been out in the heat too long. You might try holding them in the refrigerator for part of a day in a sealed Tupperware container on paper towels if you have too much moisture. But don't try to hold them much longer. The industrial strawberries you buy at Costco or the grocery store will hold for days but they never have the lovely strawberry flavor, deep red color, smell and texture. It is a trade off that I think is absolutely worth it in terms in the quality of jams, pies and just the shear joy of eating fresh "real" strawberries.

If you have a Food Saver or other vacuum saver, try putting the dry berries in one of the larger canisters. Vacuumed sealed strawberries have a considerably extended life expectancy.