U-pick strawberry update

We are opening the strawberry patch for u-pick tomorrow morning at 7 am as is our normal pattern. Expect poor picking with a limited amount of ripe berries. The patch was picked thoroughly yesterday and with the cool weather there are not many berries that have ripened today. The next picking will be on Wednesday afternoon starting at 2 pm and they should be much more ripe by then. We also will not be picking for the stand on Monday. I expect to have picked berries available at the stand again on Tuesday afternoon. In other parts of the garden and greenhouse there are lots of scallions, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. Field lettuce is abundant now. I am putting the romaine lettuce together with the red and green leafy lettuce display and pricing them all @ $1.85 each or three heads for $5. In the greenhouse I planted 10 seeds of a long delicious white cucumber from Johnny seeds. I also planted about 300 seeds of normal green cucumbers. Those 10 white cucumbers are yielding about 3 bushel a week right now which I find impressive. If you close your eyes when you are eating them you would never know they are white as they taste just like any other cucumber. Try one sometime. Daniel

U-pick strawberries Saturday/ peak of season

We will open the strawberry patch for u-pick tomorrow (June 18, 2022)at 7 am. This is the peak of strawberry season with lots of berries out there. The average size is dropping more quickly than I expected and they are ripening fast. We should have berries for another 10-14 days yet but the volume drops as berry size drops. ( Normally on each cluster of strawberry flowers the first king flower gives the biggest berry, each sucessive opening flower tends to be smaller than the one before.)

Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 7 AM; Wednesday, start 2 PM (no morning picking on Wednesdays); Saturday, start 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 6 PM.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart or gallon containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buy empties from us.(Quart boxes 25 cents each. If you are buying empty containers from us please pay when you get them rather than after you are done picking to minimize confusion as to what is going on.
We will do our best to spread groups apart in the field. I expect family/friend groups to stay together as much as is reasonable to allow for social distancing where it matters. NO DOGS in the field or stand areas. We will be using the same random picking pattern that we did last year. This means that you may start anyplace you wish in the patches that are open as long as you are not cutting in front of someone. It is mandatory that when you are picking that all the ripe berries are picked as you move ( No roaming or grazing type picking. A section of row must either be picked or not picked when you leave. We will be scouting the patch and keep suggesting where you will find good picking.
Pricing (u-pick) $4 per Quart if less than 8 quarts and $3.25 per quart if more than 8 quarts; $26 for 8 quart tray and $12.50 for 4 liquid quart buckets, water pitchers, bowls and other similar sized containers. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2.20/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts); By using volume rather than weight when it makes sense we can bypass the stand for most of the berries and reduce congestion. If you pay by credit card there is a 3% surcharge added to the above prices and you will need to use the inside checkout station rather than outside express options. Daniel

U-pick strawberries Wednesday @2 pm

I am just returning from scouting the strawberry fields. As one approaches the patch the sweet aroma of ripe strawberries is floating in the evening summer air. I tasted a few. They are delicious. We are opening the fields for u-pick starting at 2 pm tomorrow (Wednesday June 15,2022) NO MORNING PICKING ON WEDNESDAYS. Picking conditions are excellent with thousands of lbs. ready to pick now. We are in the early main part of strawberry season. In the next 10-14 days 90% of the crop will come in. Come and get them. We also have picked berries at the farm stand for those of you that do not wish to pick. Daniel

U-pick berries today

We are opening for you u-pick strawberries today starting at 7 am. There are quite a few ripe berries to pick today but the floodgate of the main strawberry season has not opened yet. We picked about 500 quarts on Saturday and it looks about the same for today. The next u-pick after today will be on Wednesday starting at 2 pm. (THERE IS NO PICKING ON WEDNESDAY MORNING) There will be picked berries on the stand but the supply is likely to only last part of the day today. Tuesday morning we expect to see more picked berries from the other local no-spray growers in our network of growers. (It takes more than one family to grow the produce the stand needs) Daniel

U-pick strawberries Saturday starting at 7 am

We are opening for u-pick for the first picking of the season tomorrow morning Saturday (June 11, 2022) starting at 7 am. Some sections of the patch have quite a lot of berries that are ready and in other areas there are just a few. (I estimate 2-400 quarts ready) Be expecting somewhat slow picking as there are also lots of green tips berries to work around. Peak season is still 7-10 days out yet. It is fairly likely on the first picking that the patch will be all picked fairly early in the day so call before coming if you are coming later.
Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 7 AM; Wednesday, start 2 PM (no morning picking on Wednesdays); Saturday, start 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 6 PM.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart or gallon containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buy empties from us.(Quart boxes 25 cents each. If you are buying empty containers from us please pay when you get them rather than after you are done picking to minimize confusion as to what is going on.
We will do our best to spread groups apart in the field. I expect family/friend groups to stay together as much as is reasonable to allow for social distancing where it matters. NO DOGS in the field or stand areas. We will be using the same random picking pattern that we did last year. This means that you may start anyplace you wish in the patches that are open as long as you are not cutting in front of someone. It is mandatory that when you are picking that all the ripe berries are picked as you move ( No roaming or grazing type picking. A section of row must either be picked or not picked when you leave. We will be scouting the patch and keep suggesting where you will find good picking.
Pricing (u-pick) $4 per Quart if less than 8 quarts and $3.25 per quart if more than 8 quarts; $26 for 8 quart tray and $12.50 for 4 liquid quart buckets, water pitchers, bowls and other similar sized containers. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2.20/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts); By using volume rather than weight when it makes sense we can bypass the stand for most of the berries and reduce congestion. If you pay by credit card there is a 3% surcharge added to the above prices and you will need to use the inside checkout station rather than outside express options. Daniel

2022 strawberry picking information

Strawberry season is coming fast. The fruit set is good this year with many thousands of green berries everywhere. The weather is lovely from a strawberries perspective. We have plenty of moisure and strawberries like it slightly cool. Hot weather ripens them faster but does not give as good of a berry.
We are opening for u-pick for the first picking of the season Saturday (June 11, 2022) starting at 7 am. There is still a limited amount of ripe berries. For the first picking the ripe berries are fairly scattered and the picking will be somewhat slow as there are also lots of green tips to work around. Peak season is still 7- 10 days out. Strawberry pricing for 2022 is the same as last years prices.
We will be continuing many of the changes from last year as they worked well. During busy times there will be an outside express checkout option for berries that are being bought by volume.

Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 7 AM; Wednesday, start 2 PM (no morning picking on Wednesdays); Saturday, start 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 6 PM.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart or gallon containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buy empties from us.(Quart boxes 25 cents each. If you are buying empty containers from us please pay when you get them rather than after you are done picking to minimize confusion as to what is going on.
We will do our best to spread groups apart in the field. I expect family/friend groups to stay together as much as is reasonable to allow for social distancing where it matters. NO DOGS in the field or stand areas. We will be using the same random picking pattern that we did last year. This means that you may start anyplace you wish in the patches that are open as long as you are not cutting in front of someone. It is mandatory that when you are picking that all the ripe berries are picked as you move ( No roaming or grazing type picking. A section of row must either be picked or not picked when you leave. We will be scouting the patch and keep suggesting where you will find good picking.
Pricing (u-pick) $4 per Quart if less than 8 quarts and $3.25 per quart if more than 8 quarts; $26 for 8 quart tray and $12.50 for 4 liquid quart buckets, water pitchers, bowls and other similar sized containers. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2.20/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts); By using volume rather than weight when it makes sense we can bypass the stand for most of the berries and reduce congestion. If you pay by credit card there is a 3% surcharge added to the above prices and you will need to use the inside checkout station rather than outside express options. Daniel

Cucumbers and strawberries today

We have a full tub of cucumbers today from our greenhouse. The plants look good and I expect a fairly steady supply of cucumbers on going. We pick them every other day. Today I also have 60 pints of some very good local strawberries. These are normal June bearing strawberries with a greenhouse over part of the field to get them ripening earlier. These berries are no spray grown. Priced @ 6.25 per pint. We have lots of asparagus, green onions etc. Daniel

Farmstand Open Today, Lots of Asparagus

We are open today (we are open on all the summer holidays) and we have lots of asparagus. If you wish to get bulk amounts of asparagus to put up in some way this year get it soon. The seasons move on quickly and soon it will be time for the next set of good food that God sends into our lives. Be thankful for this moment. Daniel

Asparagus season now; strawberry season in June

The Farmstand is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am- 6 pm. (Closed Sunday) We are in the main asparagus season now. Asparagus season will last until sometime in mid June. The strawberries are at about 10% bloom now which is normal for this time of the year. The plants look nice and healthy. I expect that the strawberries should be ready for harvest starting about mid June with the season lasting 2-3 weeks as is usual. We had a light frost with temps at 32 degrees yesterday morning. If a strawberry flower is damaged by frost/ freezing the white petals will still look bright but the sunny yellow center of the flower turns black within a few hours or a day. I just was out in the strawberry fields and the flower center are all looking up at me with bright yellow centers. This is wonderful to see they escaped frost damage. The first cucumbers in the greenhouse are almost big enough to pick and there are lots of sizing tomatoes. (still very green) Before you complain about the rain think of us produce farmers. It is so reassuring to hear the rain on the roof and to see the little plants taking ahold and growing. Daniel

Summer Hours begin today at Martins Farmstand

Summer hours begin today! The normal stand open hours from May- November are 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday. We are always closed on Sundays. Online orders from the previous day are packed each morning for pick up that day. (no orders are packed Sunday) We have asparagus today however supplies are limited. We have only about 100 lbs. here at the moment. I expect to cut again either tonight or early in the morning. This warmth and sunshine are soaking into the ground and the asparagus roots are responding. By late in the week we should be cutting several hundred lbs. a day. Daniel