Sunday evening November 6 ---- Awesome, Amazing, Fantastic are just a few words that describe the Harvest of Fall Fun 2016. My dentist came out to the farm for his sons' field trip the other day, when I was in his chair following his visit he commented "It must be great to always be around happy customers and happy kids". I immediately exclaimed "It is!", which is exactly what all the farm hands think. We are normal folks and tend to get snippy occasionally but overall our hands say it is a pleasure to work on the farm.
The farm is now closed for the winter months (don't worry parents, we will be open for a few remaining scheduled school field trips). A few of us farm hands will now get busy cleaning up, preparing Strawberries for the winter, fixing this and that and general maintenance.
Hopefully we will open back up in early March 2017 with Strawberries ready to be harvested. Hope to see you then!!!!
Friday evening November 4 ---- Here we go, the final weekend of the Fall season. We had 3 inches of rain yesterday, a little more than I bargained for. We did quite a bit of repair on the mazes today, they should be good to go for tomorrow but we still have some soggy grounds so closed toe shoes would be best. It will be a little slippery in areas and little johnny is sure to find a mud puddle if you take your eyes off of him. The flowers and sunflowers are putting on a show. Overall though the farm is in pretty good shape. The temperatures were pleasant today. Bee activity is diminished but not completely gone. We are looking forward to another great weekend (well, we will have to watch the weather forecast for Sunday). Hope to see you soon.
Wednesday November 2nd ------ It is important to finish strong and we plan to do just that heading into the final weekend of the Fall season. The Zinnia plants are full of blooms (even Sunflowers) just in time for a last hoorah. The farm will close down to the public at the end of the day Sunday (we still have a few school groups scheduled next week). There is some rain in the forecast for the next day or two which will make it even better, nothing like a shower to freshen things up after a couple of dry weeks. All activities will be running this weekend, even Horse Rides. Our daughter is trying out homemade pumpkin seeds in the grille, they are great - I can't get enough of them. I am sure she will not make enough so ask early if you are a pumpkin seed craver. We still have some fairy tale pumpkins, they make a great centerpiece on your table. Simply clean them up, put a coat of floor wax on them and they will last months inside your house. I expect a very light crowd so don't worry about hurrying out to beat the rush. I have overheard folks in the past say "wow, this is the weekend to come ..... no crowd, no lines it is like they opened it just for us".
The Strawberry plants look good so far, just a few months and we will be picking those luscious red berries! Hope to see you soon!
Thursday evening October 27 -- Still rollin we are! This has been a fantastic season for us so far and we are set to finish strong! We have lots of pumpkins and lots more fun to be had. We will be open this weekend and all next week (closed Wednesday) normal business hours. The flowers have made a comeback, some Sunflowers to pick, the Mazes are hangin in there it will be a good time to come out if you haven't yet. We don't know what to expect this weekend but if you want to avoid crowds all together - the last weekend - November 5 and 6 would be the time to come.
The Strawberry plants are beginning to take hold. So far the 2017 crop is looking good, let's hope they get through the winter well because we are in need of some fresh Strawberries come March.
Hope to see you soon!
Wednesday night October 19 ---- Oh boy are the farmhands ever tired, but it is a happy tired. We have been blessed with an amazing and joyful crowd so far this season. The weather has been a bit warm and has tried a lot of our temperments (mine) but our patrons have just pushed right through it amazingly. We have a cold front heading to town tonight, I might be the happiest one of all to feel those cooler temperatures. Small chance of rain coming with it, we could use that too to settle the dust. So far the forecast is for just a little rain, I would not let it hinder your plans to come to the farm. I will post on here if we happen to get more than we need, otherwise don't worry about ground conditions.
Historically this is a very well attended weekend, come early (around nine) or late (after one) to avoid the biggest 'bubble' of people. We should have plenty of flowers for Saturday (even sunflowers), not sure about Sunday yet but I suspect we will have some. Last year, or maybe the year before I 'neglected to put out the little orange tractor pulling a trailer of pumpkins' a woman needed that back since she had taken a picture of her daughter on that tractor seven years running. Well, this year I stole that tractor out of the group scarecrow scenes and put it out for the public to take pictures on. Now I can't find her corespondance, I hope you read this lady - I'm sorry it took me so long.
Now for Strawberries ---- Ron, I know you are out there....... and the rest of you Sweet Charlie folks. The last five rows down by the arbors have been planted to a new variety "Flavorfest" (maybe you can give me feedback on it?), the five rows before that are "Sweet Charlie". We have now finished planting the 90,000 plants, whew! So everyone that comes out should tell them to "grow baby grow" so we will have plenty of those luscious red berries starting March, 2017
Friday morning October 14 ----- Flower alert! Not near enough buds have opened up for this to be a "good" upcoming flower picking weekend -- just so you know. The plants are covered with buds, I need someone who is a better singer than I to get them going. So if you are coming this weekend, I expect to hear a lot of melodious tunes out in the flower patch spurring those plants to get going.
Everything else is rolling very nicely. We had a trace of rain last night, just right to settle the dust. The cloud cover in the mornings has been great to keep the temperatures down --- we are just very very happy with the way the weather is cooperating right now. This weekend is going to be a little warm, come early to beat the heat. FYI: the Horse Riding line is the longest on the farm, knock that activity out early in the morning to avoid the wait or don't buy that ticket until you see the line. We try to keep it under 30 minutes but mid day it gets a little out of hand.
About 60000 Strawberry plants have been planted, just 30000 to go and we will have that task in the bag. We are tickled pink with the looks of the plants. Lets hope we can get them established and growing for a great Spring crop. The last three crops have been dogged by hail and rain, it is time to get a good one in.
Saturday evening October 8 ---- What a fantastic Saturday! Sunday should be a good one too ....... with one exception - flower alert! Open flower blooms will be minimal so flower picking is going to be slim Sunday. Lots of blooms are on their way but it will take a few days for them to open. All the other events will be going good, hope to see you soon
Sunday October 2 ---- Yea! October is here! The temperatures have dropped just a little (at least they are in the lowers 80's) and we had fantastic second weekend. It was soooo good that folks have pretty much cut the first round of Zinnia blooms. Don't worry though, the 25,000 plants are covered with buds just waiting to open this coming week. We should even have Sunflowers to cut next weekend!!
It has been good to see so many smiling faces. Crowville, (the new hayride route) has been a big hit. Those scarecrows over there have been putting on a show.
The 2016 Fall Texas Maze has a Presidential theme. Pedestrians walking
through our Texas shaped maze will be looking for towns (that exist in the real
state of Texas) whose name resembles a past Pres/vice Pres: Taft, Nixon, Reagan,
Cleveland, Sherman, Roosevelt, Tyler, Wilson, Breckenridge, Andrews (close to
Andrew Jackson), Bushland and Van Horn (close to Van Buren). Where these towns
are located in the real state, we have a sign and a hole punch in our state.
Punch your gamecard when you find a town, try to get all twelve! Most of the
towns have a different shaped hole punch so we will know if ....... someone gets
a little punch happy.
All the pathways connect so there is not one way in
and one way out. If you can’t find a town, make your way out – look at the Texas
map – and head back in to find it. Win a free water or soda if you can get all
the towns!
Strawberry plants should arrive this week, we will start planting soon after - only 90,000 to plant this year.
Wednesday evening September 28 ----- The recent rains and cooler weather have made it a perfect time to come out to the farm! The grounds are in great shape as well as the flowers, pumpkins and mazes. Hope to see you soon! The weekend is sure to get busy. We would love to have you anytime but if you wish to be the rush, try to arrive at the farm around 9ish.
Sunday morning September 25 --- Opening day was awesome but a little warm. The farm has had a few passing much needed showers this morning. This cold front is supposed to bring some cooler temperatures, I imagine no one is more excited about that than us. More rain is showing on the radar. The farm will be open today with everything but Horserides, grab an umbrella and your favorite old shoes/boots if coming today.
Friday evening September 23 ---- Tomorrow is the big opening day!!!!! Whew! I think we are going to be ready to have some fun!!! From the forecasts I check .... it looks like Saturday will be a good day but Sunday seems to have a very high chance of rain. It looks like of the two days this weekend, Saturday is definitely the day to come. It might be a tad warm, you are welcome to bring water or we will have some but the main thing is to stay hydrated. The farm is very dry and we can use the rain on Sunday so we won't complain too much about the lost business. We will post here again tomorrow night concerning Sunday.
Wednesday September 21 --- WaHoo! opening this weekend and it is coming fast. Of course there would be a chance of rain for Sunday but .... we have turned off very dry and will take it if it comes.
The Farm looks great! especially the new Hayride route. Granny has been working with the Scarecrows in the village and you can really tell that a person with a real brain (that would be granny) has helped! The Mazes look good, everything looks good (well.... the flowers are a bit behind but I think they will catch up by the second weekend or so.
Hope to see you soon!
Monday September 5 ---- Still Awesome! this weather is
still awesome. Another inch yesterday afternoon and rain just ran me
inside here at 4pm. At some point we are going to want to get into the
field to turn some dirt but for now we will just enjoy every
bit.
The burn ban has been lifted so we will be taking care of
the rather large pile of brush that has been building over the last 7
months. We are also replanting Zinnia skips (invariably some do not make
it through the planting process). I suppose before long we will start
taking sprinklers out of the Mazes as well. The girls have been busy
making signs and getting set up for the Harvest of Fall Fun. It will be
here soon! September 24th.
Wednesday August 31 --- The gauntlet has been thrown
down!! From now on every August on the farm should be just like this
one! Who could have guessed that August would be THE rainy
month? We have had over 10 inches of rain in the second half of this
month. Just the last three days we have had almost an inch each afternoon
about 6pm. The temperatures have dropped dramatically as well staying
below the mid 90's - I really have to pinch myself to make sure I am not having
a dream.
All the Zinnias have now been planted, it was
tough to get into the field but we pushed through and got 25,000 planted in
2 long days. Most of the Sunflower seeds have been planted. The
pathways have been cut in all three Mazes (still fighting worms though and I
made a mistake by not putting down any preplant fertilizer) but overall they
look great and have not laid down with all the rain (I always plant the Mazes
too thick so they turn into a solid mass of leaves with thin stems - too much
heavy rain normally weights the plants down and they 'lay over'. There are
some spots laid over but it could be much worse).
So with all this
rain I went out to check on Crowville (about two acres surrounded by two 'dry'
creeks where all the scarecrows hang out waiting on Fall hayrides to bring
tourists to town) and ............. it has moved!!!!!!! The indians that
had camped out in one of those dry creeks got tired of being washed out I
suppose because they moved two islands down. A nice new road was put in
and the whole town had moved as well. The band, pumpkin still, and bar
room dancing girls are still in the same place so maybe the town was moving away
from them? It looked like those scarecrows needed some help so the guys
and granny have been spending a lot of time out there with them. I
am sure the Scarecrow Island Hayride is going to be a big new hit this
Fall. It is going to be awesome.
The goats have been
busy kidding. Almost 50 little goat kids will surely be a big hit this
Fall for folks to feed and watch. They are a good reason to come to the
farm early because they seem to be most active and playful early
morning.
Our next big project will be making Strawberry beds for
the plants that should arrive in October. This rainfall is going to make
it soooooo nice. We lose the moisture pretty fast so we have to be careful
we don't goof off and wait too long to get that job done.
Get ready, The Harvest of Fall Fun is on it's way!!! September 24 to November 6.
Monday August 8 --- Well, not much has changed here on
the farm - hot and dry seems to be the pattern we are in. We are watering
constantly right now, just trying to keep things alive. The Mazes have all
been planted and pathways cut. Worms are giving us fits in the grass, as
if the heat and dryness wasn't enough. I really, I mean reallllllly, do
not like worms. They are so destructive and are just a plague. When
I die, if I go to a place with lots of worms, I will know it is not the good
place I have been aiming for.
All in all, I am pretty happy with where the
farm is sitting right now. Surely some day it will rain again, I just hope
it happens before we open up for the Fall. Things are getting done, get
ready - Pumpkins will be here soon!
Saturday July 9 ---- and there went the soil
moisture. We seem to be getting in a desert like pattern where it rains a
lot in the Spring - no rain for three months in the summer and then starts again
in the Fall. Guess when the farm is 'open', yep - the rainy
seasons.
We have been busy on the farm. The
Strawberry plastic has been removed, the fall flower beds have been built and
the Mazes are almost planted. Lots of places around us got up to 3 inches
of rain two weeks ago, we got nothin. So we spend two days putting
sprinklers out, three days wetting the field, a day removing sprinklers, two
days tilling, harrowing and preparing the soil, and a day and a half planting
and putting sprinklers back out on the Texas Maze. We planted it a little
late this year (7th) but I think that will be ok because the grass is normally
over the 6' sprinklers in the first of September so this will allow us to water
it a little more closer to opening. I am very pleased with how the field
worked up. I tend to get in a hurry on jobs like that and don't get the
field perpared as well as it should. This year we took our time and made
sure it was in great shape before planting and it sure looks nice at the
moment. Soil preperation is the key to success!! (well, the first one
anyway). The group maze and Candy Corn maze will be planted on Monday and
Tuesday.
Monday June 6 ----- It is very tempting to say something like "sure, now that we are out of fruit the sun comes out!" but I wouldn't say that out loud. It was a trying Spring but as always, it could have been so much worse. We are now starting the joyous job of removing the Strawberry plants and plastic and other summer time chores.
Thursday morning June 2 ---- I think the rain will be through here before 10am. The Blackberry patch has wide grass covered aisles so I don't think we will be dealing with much mud - just plenty of wetness.
The Spring season is just about over for Sweet Berry Farm. We will have Blackberries to pick Thursday and Friday. Fresh picked peaches should be available to buy each morning as well (sorry, no pick your own Peaches anymore this year). The Farm will close down at closing time on Friday. It has been a trying season but the Best customers in the world have made it way better than it could have been.
Sunday night May 29 ---- Yep, we are open Memorial Day .....
Nope, I am sorry to say the fruit picking won't be very good but the Ice Cream
sure will be. Only come out to the farm tomorrow for a 'casual' excursion - the
berries are just not there for a 'fruity' one. The only thing we have yet to
ripen are some Blackberries and they need a few days to recover (the coming
Thursday, Friday would be best picking). It looks like we will close the farm
down for the summer in about a week - it all depends on how long the
Blackberries hold out.
We will start removing the Strawberry plants
soon while placing an order for plants to plant this Fall. It seems we
have had three marginal Strawberry years in a row - we need to change that
trend!
Friday night May 27 ----- This weekend - we will be open for Farm fun! But not a lot of picking. The Strawberries are almost played out (and muddy) the onions have been pulled and the peach crop is non existent. We do have a limited amount of Blackberries to pick, still potatoes to dig and lots of fresh ice cream. The Barrel Train and Berry Bounce will be running for the kiddos Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday morning May 22 --- For today we have potatoes to dig, onions to pull, very light Strawberry and Blackberry picking, lots of ice cream, popsicles and good ole relaxing farm fun. The Barrel Train, Sandart and Berry Bounce will be open as well.
Friday evening May 20 --- Saturday we will have Light Strawberry picking, good Blackberry picking, lots of Potatoes, dwindling Onion supply and Peaches in the morning (I think the ripe ones will be picked by mid day). The farm is mostly dry everywhere but between the Strawberry rows.
Wednesday afternoon May 18 --- Looks like the next couple of days are going to be good picking, if we can get to the fruit. Keep an eye to the sky (or radar) when heading to the farm the rest of this week. We have some Peaches to pick starting tomorrow! I believe there is enough on the trees to last through this Saturday but not positive. When we finish up the CaroRed, JuneGold and PFD varieties we will have to wait a few days for Ruby Prince to get started. Ruby Prince has a poor crop as well as Gala and June Prince which are right behind them. The Blackberries are starting to produce well now, we should have plenty to get through a good part of the weekend. Some very nice Strawberries have come out of the fields but overall their production cycle is winding down fast. There should be enough Potatoes and Onions for the weekend, we will have to wait and see how much longer they are going to hold out.
I suspect that by the first of June the Strawberry plants will have just about finished producing fruit. The Blackberries should be done close to that time. I don't think the Potatoes and Onions will last all the way through May. Since we don't have many Peaches to sustain "opening" through June, we are likely to close the farm down for the summer sometime around June 5.
We planted 5000 Zinnia plants yesterday. Why? I really don't know. We seeded them in trays a month ago when I thought we might go through the month of June. Oh well, they will be pretty to look at this summer.
The biggest part of the farm is not muddy - the aisles between the Strawberry rows are muddy. Hope to see you all soon!
Sunday morning May 15 ----- Wa hoo! Saturday was a pretty good day ...... all the way up to the rain ran everyone away in the afternoon. Just a little rain fell here though so there are some muddy spots but overall it is not bad. 1 - 5pm on Sundays, we have a chance of rain today as well so it might be a good idea to check the radar before heading out. Today we will be picking: Strawberries Blackberries, Potatoes and Onions. No Peaches today - we will give them a few days to ripen up another batch.
Friday afternoon May 13 --- Tomorrow will be a pretty good day on the farm. We have a small resurgence of Strawberries, decent Blackberry picking, lots of Potatoes, lots of Onions and the Peach picking will be pretty good in the morning - (maybe all day if the turnout is light). We are going to start picking JuneGold which is a very big Peach for an early variety. The Berry Bounce, Sandart and Barrel Train will be running and don't forget about the delicious Strawberry Smoothies.
Wednesday evening May 11 ---- For Thursday: light Strawberry picking (the heat has accelerated the end of Strawberry season - we might have two weeks left in them if that), light Blackberry picking (their season is just getting started and the picking will get much better next week), lots of Potatoes, Onions, Ice Cream and farm fun! We will pick Peaches this coming Saturday when we finish up the CaroRed variety and start June Gold and some PFD5.
Monday evening May 9 ---- Sooo, I would wait a couple of days before coming out to the farm for fruit picking. We are in the last few weeks of Strawberry picking - they need a few days to regenerate after last weekend. The Blackberries have not really got going yet - pickers were a little over zealous yesterday, they too need a couple of days to get going again. Peaches - it looks like we will pick again this Saturday. But on the good side - we still have lots of Potatoes, Onions, Ice Cream and fun in the country!
Wednesday evening May 4 ---- Amazing, this weather is
amazing!!! The ends of the Strawberry aisles are almost dried out for the
first time since mid March. The Strawberry picking is getting a little
better. Tuesday some boxes came out that made me proud, something I have
not felt in over a month. I was reminded of what the berries are supposed
to be like. Now ..... the picking is still not great, you still have to
work for them and even sort through some decayed berries from all the rain we
have had.
Lots of Potatoes and Onions.
I think we will start
picking the next variety of Peaches on Saturday. This variety is CaroRed,
it is a little small in our orchard and a cling but very big in taste.
This variety is set much better than FlavorRich so I expect to get decent
poundage off of it.
Blackberries, some are turning red. I
hope to start picking on Sunday. I am concerned that the amount of ripe
Blackberries will be small for Mothers day. Really a week from Saturday is
when I would expect there to be a good amount to pick.
Monday evening May 2 ---- Wow, it was cold today! and tomorrow morning is supposed to be in the 40's. Wow. Speaking of the forecast, guess what? At the moment there is no rain in it the rest of this week! I believe the latter half of this week is going to be the best Strawberry picking we have seen in awhile (still not great but 'good'), the aisles between the Strawberry rows might even dry up for the first time in a month. Potatoes and Onions are going well, probably another week or two worth out there. We are hoping to start picking Blackberries on Mothers day. Maybe Peaches on Saturday, they just need to ripen a little more.
Saturday evening April 30 ---- Today was a marvelous day! I hope you were able to enjoy it as much as I. Tomorrow at the farm we will have light Strawberry picking along with lots of Taters and Onions. We picked all the ripe Peaches off of the first variety today so it will be late next week before we pick Peaches again. I hate to admit it but it shows just the kind of year we are having: we have 14 varieties of Peaches with 50 trees each. At this tree age we would like to get 50 to 100 pounds of Peaches per tree -- today we cleaned off the first variety of 50 FlavorRich trees and ended up with 256 total pounds harvested. Yep - that averages 5 pounds per tree. But on the flipside: we got 5 pounds of Peaches per tree!!! We have some varieties that are going to do a lot better than that and some worse. We are certainly going to be happy with whatever we get!
Saturday Morning April 30 --- Well, it did rain last night but not much - only a tenth of an inch. By 11am or so the dew should be burned off and the farm will be ready to go. Today will be a good day, come on out and enjoy it with us.
Thursday evening April 28 ---- If you were the one
that told my daughter today to tell me to update the Fresh News -- it
worked! Actually that daughter told the other daughter that told the wife
and then I heard it from all three! But I have the last laugh because I
acted like I didn't hear them and might forget to do it - oh, how annoyed they
became so they collaborated and ganged up on me this evening when I came
in.
I have been running gun shy since I thought the
picking was going to be so much better last weekend and we just had a
splash of berries. Come this week only for casual Strawberry
picking. There were some folks out today that picked two nice
boxes in an hour but they were very patient and deliberate. As my dad
would say in times like this "you gotta go low and go slow, move those leaves
and get down in amongst the plants. Kinda like you're kneeling down
to pray, and you might be after awhile "oh Lord, show me some berries"".
Last I saw we have a good chance of rain for Friday and Saturday morning.
We will be open rain or shine but I think you should go ahead and get those
designer rubber boots out.
one thing for sure: we have onions and taters to harvest!!! Who needs a juicy old Strawberry when you can have a smooth and creamy succulent Potato? There is nothin like a big plate full of fluffy white taters, butter, ranch, bacon bits mixed with sauteed fresh onions. That is a meal right there! Onions are 35 cents each, Potatos are 1.00 per pound.
Did someone say Blackberries? I saw one turning red just this evening - it won't be long now!
I don't want to tell anyone not to come out but ...... I think if you came a week from today and the two weeks after you could pick Strawberries, Blackberries, Onions, Potatoes and ........... maybe a Peach or two! I haven't quite decided how we are going to sell the Peaches (we pick or you pick). The Peach crop is going to be limited so we don't want to waste a single one but it is soooo much fun to let folks pick their own - we'll just have to see.
Saturday evening April 23 ---- Yikes! 1300 pounds did not go very far! The weather was amazing today (Saturday) and the Strawberry plants were picked pretty clean. Sunday afternoon will probably not be a good day to pick berries. Give them a few days and we will be back in the berries again. I feel like I mislead everyone with the Thursday update below. We are not to the "the berries just jump in your box" stage, instead we are at the "this is the best picking since the hail storm" stage. We will be open having fun tomorrow as well as plenty of ice cream, smoothies and goodies - just not a lot of berries to pick. Remember: 1 - 5pm on Sundays.
Thursday evening April 21 ---- Finally! After
what seems like an eternity we finally have a good amount of nice ripe berries
to pick - now if we can just get to them! A couple of days of this
sunshine will certainly help but in the short term - there is going to be some
mud between the Strawberry rows to deal with. And just where do you think
the biggest most luscious berries will be hiding? Yep, in the wettest, dirtiest
spot. But that is the fun of it! telling your friends and family how you
battled the elements and arose victorious with the crown jewel of all
strawberries! and just think how sweet and delectable that berry is going
to taste ........ as you wash the mud from between your toes.
Lawnmower races this Saturday!! they start at 2pm, there is a $5 entry fee
to the race. 100% of race proceeds will be donated to a local family whose
young daughter is fighting cancer. The races are named after Mike Cupps,
once a mighty mover and shaker with the Lone Star Mower Racing Association, who
feel victim to cancer. At the request of Mike, his ashes were the start
finish line of the first race four years ago. Since farmer Lacy is with
child her husband will be driving her mower. After his first practice lap
he commented "wow, this thing is fast!" with a big grin on his face.
Farmer Dan will also be racing but in a class that flirts with the sound
barrier. It was rumored that I wrecked my mower in a spectacular
death defying crash last year. IF I did ....... I am sure it was as
awesome and breathtaking as everyone says it was.
We
are now pulling onions too. The next couple of weeks look like they will
be great Strawberry picking, Onion pulling, Potatoes the first of May,
Blackberries around May 10 and Peaches too? (stay tuned for a Peach update
soon).
Friday afternoon April 15 ---- The sun has come out and made a marvelous day of it. Tomorrow (Sat) will be decent picking, the best we have had in three weeks for sure. Our forecast has the rain holding off until afternoon/evening so morning might be best. I believe we will start pulling onions as well. I think it will be a good day on the farm. Beyond tomorrow - the Strawberry production is about to pick up dramatically. We are finally about to recover from the March hail storm. I would expect late next week to May 10 to be pretty good picking.
Wednesday evening April 6 ---- This is my best guess on Strawberry production...... IDK. ha ha, after 26 years of growing Strawberries I still feel like I know nothing. I think there will be some berries to pick tomorrow morning but am concerned about Friday and the weekend. We have nine miles of Strawberry row, you might have to walk several to find your berries. My suggestion: come out now to enjoy the beautiful outdoors, let the kids frolic around the farm and pick a few ripe berries OR wait ( better yet, come again!) about 2/2.5 weeks to get the fresh new crop of Strawberries, pull onions, dig potatoes and .... let the kids continue to frolic around the farm.
Monday evening April 4 ---- Hold on now! We had a big last couple of days, the field needs a rest. Thursday morning will be the next best time to come pick. I think the next week or so is going to be somewhat slim picking because we have not worked through the hail damage yet. We have nine miles of Strawberry beds, there is a boxful out there for you, it just depends how determined you are to get it. It is worth it to come out to the farm to just enjoy outdoor life, get you some ice cream, let the kids jump and run --- what a great inexpensive outing!
If you think back: the hail storm was Friday night March
18. The plants were loaded with fruit so they were already stressed.
They also lost about 50% of their leaf cover. It took a week for the
plants to get over the shock, the second week they started actively growing
again and putting on new blooms. They have now turned the corner and are
pushing vigorous growth.
Berries: for several days
after the storm we were picking nice big berries with divots, the berries had
not begun to decay yet. The second week the wounds on the berries began to
decay and we were picking the berries that might have been hidden under the
leaves that had minimal damage. The decayed berries have now almost
withered up, the hidden berries have almost been picked so you would think we
would be in the good stuff now - not so fast. The newly formed berries
that took a direct hailstone hit just outright died, hence the slow down in
production right now. Since we are two weeks away from the healthy blooms
pushed out after the storm --- I think we are going to have at least a week now
of slow picking.
Friday evening April 1 ---- Well, todays rain clouds sure fooled me. I thought it was going to clear by 9, then 10 then 11 ..... at 2pm the skies finally cleared up. We did not get that much rain overall but enough to make the aisles between the Strawberries a little slick for tomorrow. The rest of the grounds are in good shape. The picking this weekend will not be too bad, in fact .... this will be the last weekend we are going to sell the berries for 99 cents a pound. Monday morning we are going to go back up to $2.89 per pound. The weather is supposed to be beautiful the next couple of days, come on out and join the fun.
Friday morning April 1 ---- No foolin, the clouds were talking to us this morning. A lot of noise but so far ..... not much rain. This morning is sure to be wet, afternoon depends on how long it takes these clouds to get out of here. At the moment, I would expect the fields to be just fine for picking tomorrow and Sunday. I will put an update here if that changes.
Wednesday evening March 30 ---- I am so fickle, it was all overcast and misty this morning and ..... so was I. Once the sun came out this afternoon ....... so did I. And now I can write this post with a much better attitude!
I spent some time in the Strawberry fields today, we still have alot of hail damage but there is signs of hope!!! The picking is going to be slow the rest of this week and probably most of next. Folks are still finding nice berries now, they are just not jumping in the box like they should be this time of the year. I saw new leaves and new blooms. My hope is that we will be back in the good stuff by mid April - ish.
Blackberries are slowly starting to bloom. They seem to be timidly putting out blooms as if they are not quite sure it is time. I previously thought they would be early this year but now I think it might be the normal mid May before they start ripening. So far I don't see any damage on the Blackberry crop.
Peaches --- got started blooming way early, then kind of did the same thing the Blackberries are - went silent for two weeks and are now actively growing again. Some varieties have a pretty good set, others are pretty light. Thinning will be a variety by variety task. There is some hail damage on the immature peaches that had already formed when the storm hit. At the moment the damage looks minimal.
Onions and Potatoes ---- coming back strong! They were beat down pretty good but are bouncing back much better than the Strawberries. The Strawberries were loaded with fruit so I think that put a drain on the plant especially with the reduced foliage.
Overall, the Farm is on the mend. We will lick our wounds for another week or two and be back in full force before you know it.
Thursday afternoon March 24 ---- No rain here last night.
This was one time I was kinda glad it parted and went around us. This is
the scoop for Easter weekend. The Berry Bounce, Sandart and Barrel Train will be
running. Animals to pet and picnic tables to use. We will have freshly made ice
cream, jam, popsicles etc.... And .... Folks will be able to pick hail damaged
strawberries at 99 cents per pound. The berries look !Terrible! but taste good.
Once picked, they will need to be ate or worked up that day - they will have no
shelf life. Did I mention they look hideous? They are full of marks caused by
the hail. Great restraint and patience will be needed when picking them. Pickers
will surely pick a Berry they don't like, please toss it on the ground and
squish it, please do not try to put it back on the plant. The recent winds
have been good to keep the damaged berries dry, since they have a wound on them
we would not want it to be moist and humid lest they begin to decay. It is
still too early to tell how the plants themselves are going to respond.
The Sweet Ann variety had the largest, healthiest plants and look like they
might be the first to recover. Sweet Charlie was in poor condition leading
into the hailstorm, not sure if/how they will come out of it. The Camino
Reals had the largest amount of fruit for picking this weekend, I think they
will bounce back after we get some of those damaged berries off them.
The onions took a beating, it looks like they are down but not out for
sure. Hope to pull some late April/early May.
The
potato plants have normally been frozen by now and are regrowing - I expect them
to be fine ---- should be digging by May.
Blackberries look good
so far. We had a light freeze last Sunday night that made me worry about
them but so far they seem undamaged.
Some peach varieties
have a good set, others do not. I believe we are going to have some
Peaches this year but it is too early to tell which varieties and what time
frame they are going to ripen in.
Sunday evening March 20 ---- Due to the recent hailstorm: there will be no strawberries to pick for at least two weeks. The farm will remain open regular hours during this time. The Berry Bounce and Sandart will be open through the week. The Sweet Berry Express Barrel Train will run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (as long as the field is not too wet). The goats, horses and donkey still want some attention. If you are looking for a place to bring the kids and have some outdoor fun - here it is, just don't expect Strawberries to pick until they recover. We are not ready to count the season as a lost yet, just hang tough and the Strawberries will be back in the game before you know it.
Friday evening March 18 ---- Do not come to the farm this weekend. A thunderstorm just dropped a lot of rain and hail on the farm, it is flooded now and it appears the Strawberries took a pretty big hit. I will let you know as soon as we can tell the extent of the damage but for now - there will be no picking Saturday or Sunday and picking next week, Easter week, is in serious jeopardy.
Thursday evening March 17 ---- Very few years have we had weather like this in mid March. We are lucky to be open and it appears a good crowd of folks are as happy as we are about it. The ripe berries were gone pretty fast this morning. Tomorrow (Friday) will be a good day to come have some fun but NOT a good day to pick Strawberries. Special - Pony rides Friday and Saturday!!! along with the Barrel Train, Berry Bounce, Sandart and Goats for the dids to have lots of fun but don't expect to get many berries. Not to fret, LOTS of berries are coming, they just need a few days to ripen.
We make our Lemonade, Popsicles and Ice Cream with our own fruit. Well, the fields have been picked so clean that we have not had a chance to pick any for ourselves. As a result, I think we will not have Strawberry Lemonade or Smoothies Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I think that we should be able to get some berries picked next week to make a fresh batch of goodies for the Easter crowd.
From the way it looks now, I think next Thursday morning will be the next best time to pick some ripe berries. We have a big amount coming that hopefully will be ready for Easter. For sure there will be ample Strawberries available the first three weeks of April.
The Blackberries are about to bloom, Potatoes are a couple of inches tall, Onions are healthy and growing and the Peaches are on the downside of their blooming. Reckon we are through with freezing temps this Spring? I sure hope so, lets keep our eyes on the weather!
Tuesday evening March 15 ---- What a day, folks were having a grand ole time for sure. We did not have near enough ripe Strawberries for everyone, I did not like the looks of some of the berries that came out. If you were one of the ones that got home with some less than ripe berries --- lets try something before you throw them out. Put them in a brown paper sack, if you have a mature banana throw that in there, fold the sack closed and leave on your counter. Check daily to see if they have ripened any. Strawberries don't usually ripen much after harvest but lets see if this helps.
The farm is closed all Wednesdays! The fields desperately need a day of rest. Thursday morning will be the next best chance to get some ripe berries.
Monday evening March 14 ---- Video games certainly haven't ruined some kids love for the outdoors. Kids were running, jumping, skipping, whooping, hollering, singing and just plane ole having a good time today.
I wanted some of the picked berries I saw today to be a little redder. I am still holding to my earlier statement, Thursday morning will be much better picking than Tuesday morning. If tomorrow is the day you need to come out, come on! You will still have fun as long as you realize that you will not be able to 'load up' on a lot of ripe berries. The Berry Bounce, Barrel Train and Sandart will all be open providing a few extra activities for the kiddos. Don't forget about the Ice Cream, Lemonade and Smoothies too!
Sunday evening March 13 ---- The sun did come out! and so did a bunch of pickers! Wow, they picked some beautiful berries ---- and picked the fields pretty clean while at it. Don't fret though, LOTS of berries are on their way and the warm weather promised will do a lot to ripen them up in just a few days.
If I had a choice ..... Thursday morning would be the next best time this week to come get ripe berries. The fields will be mostly dry and being closed Wednesday will make for that many more ripe berries on Thursday.
Tomorrow and Tuesday - we will be open but you will still have to deal with muddy aisles and not so many ripe berries.
Friday night March 11 ---- Well .... the meteorologist says that the sun is going to come out tomorrow. I sure hope so. Last Sunday we picked the fields pretty clean, a week of rain has kept the picking pressure low and given MANY more berries time to ripen up. We are right on the verge of an incredible amount of ripe berries. The picking should be fantastic tomorrow all the way through next week.
It will take a few days for the recent rains to soak in, it will be muddy tomorrow for sure and then decreasing mud each day after that. I would expect next Tuesday and beyond to be mostly mud free. Kids seem to love the mud, parents not so much.
It is way too wet to run the Barrel Train tomorrow and Sunday but the Berry Bounce and Sandart will be open in addition to the Strawberries, Ice Cream, Popsicles, Lemonade and Smoothies.
Thursday morning March 10 ---- The farm is wet. We are going to be dealing with mud until the sun comes back out. A few days of rain sure has kept the picking pressure low, ripe berry supply is making a come back. By Saturday we should have plenty of ripe berries for everyone to choose from. The farm is open today, the grassy areas are wet, the aisles between the Strawberries are muddy, the ice cream is good and there will be some ripe berries to pick.
Tuesday morning March 8 ---- We just had a hefty
thuderstorm roll through - today would NOT be the best day to come out to
the farm. We will be open all day regardless, but if coming - wear rubber
boots. Ripe berry supply is very limited today, be very patient and do a
lot of walking down the rows (a little over 8 miles of Strawberry beds) and you
can find a box full of ripe berries.
We are closed
Wednesdays. If I had a choice: no doubt later in the week will be better
picking, might still have to deal with mud if the rain keeps up.
Sunday evening March 6 ---- Wow! nothing like starting the season with a BANG! This had to be our largest opening day ever - with some of the best pickers ever -- getting some of the best berries ...... in at least eight months. We wanted to get the ripe berries that had been building up off the plants before the impending rain in the forecast for the coming week and that pretty much happened today. Perhaps the biggest benefit of being in our business is all the 'happy' people and smiling faces that come visit us. We are just a bunch of common farmers that make sooooo many mistakes but most of you patrons just grin and bear it. I intended to ask some of our farmhands to come in today but ...... didn't, so we had a way longer than normal wait to check out. Even though I was bothered by my unpreparedness, pickers today seemed to keep on smiling - Thank You.
Since the fields were picked pretty good today AND a pretty good chance of rain in the forecast, I would wait until later this week to get your Strawberries. I will post here as the week goes on to let you know how the rain affects the fields.
Friday March 4 ----- Looks like rain next week so we are moving opening day up to this Sunday. The berries are amazing and I don't want to risk being rained out next week so there you go, Sunday it is. Remember: Sundays 1pm to 5pm. Hope to see you out, you will not be disappointed in the berries that is for sure!
Wednesday March 2 --- Yep! those Strawberries
are coming on fast! I believe we will go ahead and make it official,
Monday March 7th is going to be the kickoff day for 2016!!1 Yay! I
am really proud of the berries you are going to find opening day.
The Carored, FlavorRich, JuneGold and JunePrince Peach
varieties are now in bloom. IF they don't get frozen, we might have an
early Peach season! Wouldn't that be awesome! The short term
forecast does not show any cold weather - if we can just make it past the Easter
cold spell and the week after we will be in great shape for a Peach crop! A
light freeze we might be able to handle - mid 20's would be devastating. I
think I need a list of folks full of 'Hot Air' just in case, my wife can only do
so much - any nominations to add to the list?
Tuesday March 1 ---- We are very close to opening! Not
this week for sure though, the youngest daughter is getting married
Saturday. Monday March 7th we will open the gates for some picking.
We should have plenty of berries for a decent Monday crowd. You will
only hear that here, we don't have enough berries yet to let everyone
know. Consider yourself an 'insider', getting the scoop before everyone
else. Even if the front page says we are not open - we will be Monday
March 7th. How that day goes determines the rest of the week. If I
was going to make a lame prediction - we will officially open for
everyone late next week. I DO think we will have a good supply of
berries for the March 14 - 19 Spring Break and a huge amount for Easter
weekend. These first berries are very large, I suspect if you come out
next Monday you are going to be pretty amazed.
We are so excited to
get this season rolling! We hope you can join in the fun with us!
Monday Feb. 22 ---- watching the weather closely, we
are! The Strawberry plants are covered with blooms that we do not want to
freeze. Wed. night looks like it might be close so we are planning on
covering all that day. The forecast has rain in it for tonight, if it does
rain it will just make covering that much harder. We can't drive the
tractor through a wet muddy field so we have to drag the covers through the
field before opening them up which is not very easy. It will take a good 8
hours to cover the 6 acres of Strawberry plants in muddy conditions but it has
to be done. I am happy with the way the plants look, I believe that when
we do open up we are going to instantly have a lot of fruit to pick. We
are shooting for March 19 but believe it might be a little earlier.
The Caro Red Peach variety is pushing a few blooms. Several
other varieties have buds swelling. That is not very good news so far but
maybe this will be a year without a strong late freeze - we'll just have to wait
and see about that.
Wednesday evening Feb. 17 ---- I just saw a good friend and fellow grower on the 6 o'clock reporting he had Strawberries to pick (check out www.Marburgerorchard.com). He is a much better farmer than I so he has berries and we have yet to produce more than my wife can eat or granny can put in the freezer. I believe we are still a few weeks away from opening the gates here at Sweet Berry. The farmers daughter is getting married on March 5 so it will probably be sometime after that ---- depending on this weather. We might as well lavish ourselves in these gorgeous days while we have them!
Tuesday evening Feb. 9 ---- Aargh! This is what we deal with! The Strawberry plants have been covered up for a week now, nice and warm, tucked away from some frigid low temps last week. I looked at 4 weather forecasts this morning that showed the coast was clear, no freezing temps in the near future and beautiful sunny highs in the upper 70's. So off the covers start coming to reveal some nice perky looking plants that seam like they are ready to put on a show. Some open blooms that should be ripe Strawberries in mid March and even a few sporadic ripe berries for me to eat now (delish!!). [Not nearly enough for anyone to pick, just a few blooms that made it through past freezes. It will be sometime in Mid March before we will be able to have enough for pickers. Benefit of being the farmer --- eating all the Strawberries before there is enough to open, he he]. Anyway, tonight I am messing around and ........ guess what the weather forecast now calls for ............... close to freezing temps tonight! Arghhh. Oh well, a light freeze wouldn't really hurt very bad as the bulk of the blooms which are down in the crown have yet to emerge. It's just that we have had them protected only to pull them off and then out there is one more night of threating temps. Frustrating, very frustrating!
As said before, hoping for a mid March opening. Keep your fingers crossed!
Thursday February 4, 2016 --- It is a chilly 26
degrees outside right now, it is a good time to update the Fresh News
inside. I could almost copy last years statements and they would apply to
this year. Warm December, cools down first of January, warms up end of
January and gets cold again early February. The Strawberry plants are in
good condition for this time of the year. They are all covered up for the
next few cold nights, we will pull the covers sometime next week if we are out
of freezing weather for a few days. We are now protecting blooms from
freezing. About 38 days from bloom to fruit in colder weather so if we can
protect them now = berries in mid March. The covers give about 6 -8
degrees of protection, we certainly don't want the temps to go much lower than
last nights 25.
7000 onions have been planted. Go
figure! The ground was so wet we had a hard time building the beds back in
December, we toil through the mud to get them planted and ...... it hasn't
rained a drop since then. We had to hook up the irrigation and have been
watering to keep them alive.
Cutting potatoes now,
should start planting them in a day or too after the wedges have had a chance to
dry a bit.
Almost finished cutting the centers
out of the Peach trees, soon we will go back and start detail pruning. It
seems we are on track to get enough chilling hours. Hope we don't get a late
freeze this year, it sure would be nice to have two Peach crops back to
back.
Yesterday I started building the
Lawnmower race track. Two races this year: March 19 and April 23rd.
The first race will just be a 'points' race for the racers, the second race will
be the Mike Cupps Memorial benefiting Cancer Research.