Portage la Prairie, MB – 

A Portage area farmer has created a new strain of mini-strawberry by genetically modifying his plants over the course of ten years.

Frederick Andrichson from Fred’s Farm is offering the new berry to pickers this year.  The new fruit is one-quarter the size has three times the flavour of a regular strawberry and will cost more than four times the normal price.

Designed for tourist pickers looking for a premium, gourmet strawberry picking experience the mini-strawberries will take five times longer to pick.  Local pickers have already indicated they are wary of the berry.

“Who the heck wants berries that small?” veteran picker and preserver, Hilda Holme said.  “Tiny little pieces of strawberry shit if you ask me.  I won’t buy any of those things.  They won’t preserve or make good jam.”

Some local pickers are skeptical about the new berries claiming they are just poorly developed regular strawberries that Andrichson is just trying to get rid of with clever marketing.

“Nope, these are the real deal,” Andrichson said.  “The world’s first mini-strawberry created right here in the strawberry capital of the world, Portage la Prairie.”

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Photo: Emilian Robert Vicol: https://www.flickr.com/photos/free-stock/