U-pick strawberries Monday

We are opening for u-pick strawberries tomorrow morning (Monday June, 27, 2022) at 7 am. Picking conditions are fairly good with lots of ripe berries out there. The quality seems to be better than it was. They are ripening nicely with the warm weekend. As is normal in the late part of the season the berries are mostly small. I had a few to eat as I walked the patches that were really good. Next picking after tomorrow will be Wednesday starting at 2 pm. There is about a week of season left. Daniel

Mistake in former post; Saturday's picking at 7 am

The 2 pm starting time in last evenings post is incorrect. We start picking at 7 am on Saturday. Daniel

U-pick strawberries Saturday

We plan to open the strawberry fields for u-pick tomorrow (Saturday, June 25,2022) starting at 2 pm. We close at 6 pm or whenever the field is picked and my advice is to get here close to opening time if you wish to be sure of a good picking spot.
There is a fairly large amount of ripe berries out there. They are small but not as small as I feared they might be. The cool weather was kind to the strawberries.
This is getting towards the late part of the season. I still see quite a few green strawberries so I expect that for most or all of next week we will have berries to pick during our normal u-pick times. In about a week or 10 days the patch will go to gleaning- it is still to soon to say exactly when though. Daniel

U-pick strawberries Wednesday

We plan to open all the strawberry fields for u-pick tommorow (Wednesday, June 22,2022) starting at 2 pm. We close at 6 pm or whenever the field is picked and my advice is to get here close to opening time if you wish to be sure of a good picking spot. (NO PICKING ON WEDNESDAY MORNING) This is the late part of peak strawberry season. The average berry sized is somewhat small but there are lots of ripe berries out there. If I am reading the patch correctly we will be picking for another week; however there is quite a bit of area with limited amounts of green berries left so I expect each picking to have less berries than the one before. The season is passing by very quickly this year. WE have the first new potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and zucchini at the stand now. These were grown using various season extension techniques and they are somewhat expensive in comparsion to what will be coming later however what I had for lunch was so good. Garlic scapes are in there peak supply. Daniel

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