Q abt strawberries & blackberries and dirty dozen vs. clean

[Laurie4b]

The pick your own strawberries in this area are all the same: fungicide is used before they blossom and then nothing else (no pesticides). The fact that every farm does this makes me think it is widespread in strawberry farming, but then why do they make the dirty dozen list every year? Does the fungicide get absorbed systemically and then show up in the berries?

 

Secondly, wild blackberry bushes are blooming everywhere, more heavily than I can recall. Does anyone know how much car pollution they absorb? I"m wondering if I should stick to picking them on roads with almost no traffic or if it's okay to go for a patch near a more heavily traveled road.

 

[kubiac]

Blackberries grow quite fast, relatively speaking. 6-8 weeks from flower to fruit, which I don't think is enough time for the berry to absorb huge amounts of dangerous contaminants. 

 

I think the main issue between the two locations is that the whole plants (rather than specifically edible parts) will be somewhat grungier near a busy road. You'll get dirtier picking them, although the berries themselves might not be terribly different in their level of car exhaust.

 

Pick as many berries as you can carry home and then eat until you're full and then turn the rest into jam.

 

My personal bias is that seeing where your food comes from and being a part of the harvest is almost always better than food that comes from some undisclosed location where you have no idea about pollution levels or anything else.