Locals and visitors to the Upper Clutha can pick their own organic strawberries from a new strawberry farm, but only as the growth keeps up with demand.

The Red Bridge Berries farm in Luggate, named after the historic bridge, has been in the making for over a year and opened its doors on November 20 for its first summer of picking.

There has been a high demand during the business’s first months, and customers now need to keep up with the Facebook page to know what days the pick-your-own option is running.

The strawberry patch has already been ‘picked out’ multiple times and it can take up to six weeks for the strawberry to grow from a flower to the edible stage.

The strawberry farm has already been ‘picked out’ multiple times.

Owned by locals Rebecca and Ben Trotter, the strawberry patch can accommodate up to 100 customers at a time to select their own ruby-red fruit.

The Wānaka App discovered some of the tricks of the trade from staff when picking strawberries.

“The smaller ones are sweeter and juicier – you know what they say, good things come in small packages,” a staff member said.

Staff provide pickers a quick lesson on the best way to pluck the berries from their patch so as not to damage the plant’s future growth.

Red Bridge Berries, which also offers real fruit ice creams in the shop, is attracting visitors from all over the Upper Clutha.

A short drive past the Wānaka Airport, located just off Shortcut Road, Red Bridge Berries will be open until mid-autumn and even offers an after-hours honesty box for those last minute pick-me-ups.

Red Bridge Berries’ latest update, on Sunday (January 24), said there were plenty of strawberries available for picking. 

Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-4pm, find more information about Red Bridge Berries here.

PHOTOS: Supplied