Wash strawberries and drain in a colander. Remove stems and slice. Sweeten: ¾ cup of sugar to 4 cups sliced berries. Stir and let stand until sugar dissolves (just a few minutes), then put into freezer containers, leaving ½” head space for expansion (no extra space needed if using freezer bags). Put into freezer immediately. Berries can also be crushed, sweetened and frozen.

To freeze whole, unsweetened berries, wash large select berries and drain well on paper towels. Put in single layer on cookie sheet and freeze. After berries have frozen hard, put into plastic bags or containers and return to freezer. You can also freeze berries before washing them using the same method, just remember to wash them before using them when you take them out of the freezer.

Jam Tip: You can freeze berries for making jam later. Wash, stem and slice the berries then blend them in a blender! Do not sweeten. They won’t take as much space in your freezer and 2 cups of the blended berries makes one jam recipe any time you want “fresh” jam.