What eventuated, however, was far more than owners Peter and Marg Tacey could ever have expected for their Kialla West business.
Their Facebook post went viral and was viewed more than 33,000 times the night it was posted.
And by noon on the day, 700 people had turned up and stripped all the ripe strawberries from the plants.
Mr Tacey estimated there was about half a kilogram of strawberries every half a metre on the plants at the start of the day.
“The amount of fruit there was incredible,” he said.
“We put it (the post) out there to beat the rain.
“It just went nuts. It was an incredible response.”
Mrs Tacey said it was mostly locals who turned up and they wanted to help bring in the ripe strawberries before they were ruined with the rain.
“Everybody who came, the response was ‘we came to help’,” Mrs Tacey said.
“It was overwhelming,” she said of the numbers through the gates.
Mrs Tacey said they managed the numbers with COVID-19 restrictions in place, with everyone separated from when they started turning up at 8 am.
Lines snaked back to the carpark on the property, with people kept 1.5 m apart and only a certain number allowed in the strawberry patch at one time.
“It shows we can do outdoor things safely,” she said.
With Friday a public holiday, people took the opportunity to get out and do something as a family.
“Everybody’s ready to get out (of the house),” Mrs Tacey said.
“(This allows people to) come somewhere safe, outdoors. And it’s something kids like.”
The Taceys expected their next lot of strawberries would be ripe and ready for picking again by the middle of last week.
“It’s not just one day (for picking). We are here ‘til May,” Mr Tacey said.
