Do Strawberries Ripen Off the Vine?

Q: I know I can pick tomatoes right when they start to turn red and then let them continue to ripen indoors. Can I do the same thing with strawberries? I’m trying to level the playing field with the birds because right now they are winning. 

A: There are two types of ripening processes for fruit: climacteric and non-climacteric. Climacteric fruit includes tomatoes, bananas and peaches. These fruits all use ethylene gas to help trigger the ripening process. Non-climacteric fruits include watermelons, grapes, and, yes, strawberries. Climacteric fruits are ones that can be picked in a slightly ripened state, shipped to the store, and ripened there. 

Non-climacteric fruits need to be picked at the peak of ripeness to taste good. These fruits may soften as they age, but this is from deterioration — not ripening. The only way I’ve found to keep birds off strawberries is to cover the row or bed with lightweight netting, and even this may not prove bird-proof. The birds will land on the netting, and their weight will bring the netting down close to the fruit where they can peck it. In this case, you’ll have to cover the area with stiff welded wire fencing or concrete reinforcement panels held six inches off the ground by bricks or anything else you can find.