Pao Saephan crouches down in his sun-drenched field. He cups a red jewel in his hand.
In a few more days, his strawberries will be fully ripe. He’ll pick them once they are garnet-colored from stem to tip.
“We want all the strawberries, to be full ripe, full flavor, with 100 percent sugar in them,” says Saephan.
In the past, he would sell the fresh berries at his roadside stand - called Sam’s Strawberry Patch. It’s located at the intersection of Manning Avenue and I Street in Reedley.