Strawberries

A team of workers has been racing to pick, pack and transport the more than two million strawberries that are expected to be served over the course of the tournament.It was midmorning and the sun was still rising across the English countryside, but Shakhboz Yakhshiboev had been awake since the early hours. Against the backdrop of first light, Yakhshiboev had been making his way through one of the many 50-yard-long polytunnels that were his assignment for these two weeks.His hands appeared to blur as they ran across strawberry after strawberry, their plants all placed at shoulder height. Yakhshiboev’s fingertips squeezed and his eyes scanned each berry. Split-second judgments were required: Too large or too small? Ripe or not yet? Is the color just right?To pick or not to pick?Yakhshiboev, 30, a seasonal fruit picker from Uzbekistan, is part of a 32-person team that, for the duration of Wimbledon, has been the first link in a chain that brings fresh, British strawberries from Hugh Lowe Farms in Mereworth, Kent, to be eaten at the two-week Grand Slam tournament held roughly 30 miles away.A serving of strawberries and cream has become as synonymous with Wimbledon as a Honey Deuce cocktail at the U.S. Open in New York or a pimento cheese sandwich at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga. More