Enjoying the Fruits of Their Labors in Pride Month

On a humid Saturday afternoon, Hudson Valley strawberry-lovers crouched among the bushes at Steelbow Farm’s 2-acre strawberry patch in Ancram — picking fruit, snacking at picnic tables, and celebrating Pride Month as music blasted in the background. Nobody seemed to mind working up a little sweat in return for the delicious fruit.

Darien Goldston, who helped organize the Fruits First Pride U-Pick Party on June 14, wanted everyone at the party to celebrate the joy of being queer. 

“Let’s frolic, be gay together, and put ourselves first,” Goldston said, noting that the use of “fruit” in the event’s name was by design: Once a slur, it has been reclaimed by the queer community as a playful and endearing self-description. The party was hosted by Rock Steady Farm, a queer and trans-led food cooperative and nonprofit based in Millerton, where Goldston is a programs manager.

As people stepped into the field with baskets, boxes, and tupperware containers, peering under the leaves and examining the berries, Goldston offered some practical tips. “If the strawberry is red with a little bit of white on the top, it’s perfectly ripe and ready to be picked,” he said. “If it has a bruise, that means a slug probably had a taste of the fruit but you can still eat it.” 

About 100 people from around the Hudson Valley arrived throughout the afternoon. The party also had a station where attendees layered their fresh pickings with cake and whipped cream to make strawberry shortcake. 

For many, the afternoon was a way to build community. Moony Torres, who arrived from Millerton with her wife and daughters, said it was hard to find spaces to connect with other queer families in the area.

“It’s the perfect way to be fruity,” said Torres, who planned to use their haul to make strawberry milkshakes. “Fruit and farming is so normal, so why can’t pride be normalized too?” 

For others, like Vermont-based artist Elliot Papp, the party was a way to show support for local farming organizations. Papp’s grandfather is a farmer in Millerton.

“I’m not a farmer, but I respect the work and appreciate [Rock Steady’s] BIPOC and radical approach to farming,” Papp said. “It’s community, agriculture, and partying. I was visiting at the perfect time.” 

Papp also brought a few of his Vermont friends on the trip, including Cedar O’Dowd, who considers the strawberry their favorite fruit.   

“Even bad strawberries are better than no strawberries,” O’Dowd said. “The mediocre, tasteless grocery store strawberry is just a different fruit.” 

The group aimed to pick 6 pounds of berries to enjoy on the trip back to Vermont the next day and perhaps make some jam with the leftovers. 

Cameron Hastie-Etchison, who works with the Columbia Land Conservancy, said she was visiting the farm for the first time since Steelbow took over from the former Thompson-Finch Farm in July 2025. 

“It’s a great opportunity to connect people to the land where they get their fruit from,”  Hastie-Etchison said. “Folks are going to hang out for a while so this also helps create a sense of community.” 

June is the prime strawberry-picking season in the region, said Finegan Ferreboeuf, who owns Steelbow Farm with her partner, Jason Gold. 

“It’s Pride Month and strawberry month linking up,” said Ferreboeuf, as she weighed everyone’s boxes. “We’re just super excited to create a space to celebrate our queer friends and neighbors and celebrate fruit.”