Does Dan Win?

This is it! The season is peaking!  All rows are producing, and we are pulling incredible strawberries out of the field incredibly quickly this morning.  Dan and I have a running contest going to see if he can grow more strawberries than I can sell.  He is feeling pretty smug right now -- thinks he's done it for the first time in 14 years.  I say, 'the day isn't done yet:)'

U-Pick: We need an army of pickers, though!  The wind has blown away the mosquitoes, the sky is overcast so it is not too hot, and it is simply lovely out in the strawberry patch.  Bring a stack of buckets and a camera to show off the fruits of your labor.

Pre-Picked: We also have a lot of extra flats of our incredible variety, Jewel, this morning if you want to pick some up to take them out to the lake.  Call (320)967-4718 or just stop in. 

after the 4th of July

Look at what I picked for the CMCS silent auction!

I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July holiday.  The strawberries did.  The queen and her court all got down to the serious business of ripening.  All but one of our later season varieties are now ripe and ready for the plucking. Tomorrow there will be fantastic strawberries for you. 

Pre-Picked: We will have a lot of extra strawberry flats tomorrow thanks to all this ripening, so you may call or e-mail to place an order.  We're also taking orders for Saturday and any day next week.

U-Pick Friday: We open at 8 am, I'll post on the website when/if we are sold out for the day.  I don't know yet about Saturday -- things are ripening every time I turn around -- like watching kids grow up -- who can keep track?  I'll post on the website as soon as I know, though, so keep a weather eye on www.brouwerberries.com.

Thanks, Sarah 

Opened for U-Picking

Hello, from Berry Bonanzaville

We pulled a lot more strawberries out of the field the past three days than we anticipated, which bodes well for the next few weeks.  It is so wonderful to see those heavy blossom packs, and the berries swelling with juice from all the moisture we've been receiving. 

Pre-picked:
We are taking orders for Monday-Saturday, for the first three weeks of July.  Just let us know the day you want them, and we'll get them ready for you.  You can call (320)967-4718, e-mail brberries@gmail.com or Facebook Brouwer Berries your order. 

U-Pick:

This was it...drum roll... we opened for U-picking at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.   I wish I'd taken a picture of all the eager and happy pickers that rolled into our yard in the middle of a brief rainstorm at 7:30 on Saturday morning.  My  husband hasn't been able to stop raving about everyone's great attitude, even as they all got soaked.  We tried to tell people the rain would pass, but they were so impatient to get their hands on the berries that they just took off into the field.  We were able to stay open for U-picking until 10:20, which was great.  It is so wonderful that the fields are producing so well so that there will be enough berries for everyone who wants them.  

 

We plan to be open for U-picking Monday - Saturday the first three weeks of July.  I'll post on the website as soon as we are picked out.  We're only picking out of a 3rd of the field yet, and there will be more queen berries the next few weeks as later varieties ripen.  I will also post plans for future days on the website as soon as I know them, so keep an eye on the website homepage, www.brouwerberries.com

Free Farm Visit:

We love children, and children love it here. If you are picking up a flat of berries, or picking your own, plan for some extra time with your children or grandchildren to visit our little critters.  The children can go right into the cage with the bunnies.  They can watch the waterfall and the goldfish and the ducks in the pond.  They can try hunt down the free range banty hens and the little flock of chicks that follows one of the hens.  You can admire my gazillion perennial gardens that I inherited from my mother-in-law, and you can place bets on how long I'll be able to maintain them:) 

Strawberry pricing and purchasing details

One Flat = @10#  = $35.00

Hello!

We've been pruning and sprucing up, and the farm is beautiful and ready to welcome you... almost!

Pre-Picked:

If you'd like your berries picked for you, we will have about 10 flats available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  The strawberries are amazing this year -- enormous and sweet. You may call or e-mail to reserve one of those flats for yourself, first come first served.  Flats will be ready by 10 am, and you can pick them up anytime before dark once your name is on it.  A flat has about 10#, and is $35.00.  I'll e-mail you back to confirm we have a flat for you. You may also place orders for any day in the next three weeks.  I'd recommend reserving flats as soon as possible around the 4th of July. 

U-pick:

We will open either Saturday or Monday for U-picking.  The berry packs look incredible, and there will be fabulous picking.  We have six different varieties this year, which will ripen progressively.  U-pick is $1.65/#.  Please bring your own containers, such as ice cream buckets.  We will weigh your containers for you before you go out to the field. 

U-Pick is first come, first served.  We do not make appointments.  We open at 8 am, and close when we are picked out for the day.  As soon as we are sold out, I will post it on the website, so please check www.brouwerberries.com for current picking conditions. 

Markets:

We will only be able to take strawberries to the markets if we do not sell out at the farm. Thank-you for your understanding. 

Looking forward to welcoming you to our farm,

Sarah
 U-Pick:
 Ice cream buckets would be $8-$10 each, depending on how full they are piled. 

The Fight with the Dragon

The Dragon Whose Name is Lamb's Quarter

In the heat and humidity of the week, I took out an army of fearless teens.  We wore our battle armor -- gardening gloves -- and fought a great fight with the dragon weed whose name is Lamb's Quarter.  Lamb's Quarter, considered edible by some, is our mortal enemy, but we were strong and brave, and we hunted him down until he cried for mercy.  Now, he lies in the hot sun, gasping, and we reign triumphant in the shade, sipping well-earned iced tea. 

The Queen strawberries have rewarded us, their faithful courtiers, by showing some red! My kids collected a handful this morning, and we think we will be able to bid you welcome to our Kingdom of Strawberries July 1, or possibly late next week, to collect the jewels of the realm:)

From the Captain of the Infantry,

Sarah

Finally -- blossoms!

It's been a long, drawn-out spring, but with today's Sunday sunshine, the blossoms finally dared peek out.  Throughout the day, they have stretched out their necks, and are now joyously stretching up to the warmth for which we've all been waiting.

These are Annapolis, our earliest bearing variety.  Typically, we lose most of our Annapolis to a late frost, but that shouldn't happen this year:)  We are so encouraged to see such large blossoms, and such heavy blossom packs.  It looks like the Annapolis will do very well this year.  Mmmmm.....

Dan is examining the flowers for insect pests and pollinators.  We need the one, we have to watch for the other.  He breathes on the flowers, and the warmth of his breath causes the insects to go into a flurry of activity.  Most pests and pollinators are so tiny that we can only see them as black specs, but Dan has learned to identify them by their behaviour. 

Typically, Dan is pessimistic about the plants -- "Yeah, maybe three made it through the winter....maybe we'll get at least one flat of berries for ourselves..." he'll say to me.  Today, he couldn't help the light in his eyes as we looked at the blossoms covering the field.  Blossoms on plants that survived ten weeks without rain last summer, blossoms on plants that survived the January melt and the winds that bore down on the bared plants, blossoms that survived the late spring.  Praise God for these blossoms!

Ever wonder about the weeds?  There's no magic bullet.  Dan weeds every night after putting in a full day on his construction job.  Sometimes, I join him.  We call it date night:) 

Spring planting 2013

Spring planting the past few weeks has been a hopping challenge.  It was such a relief to get all those strawberry plants in the ground -- 26,000 of them -- and then to let the rain come down.  Now, the field is full of little plants poking their heads out of the ground.  Here are some pictures of planting:

The white barrels contain a water/nutrient mix that is added to the plants as they are plugged into the ground.

The two girls alternate placing the bare root plants into the pincers.

The roll of black tape is for drip irrigation.  It is installed in the soil as the plants are plugged into the ground.  Drip irrigation conserves water.  Moving from overhead irrigation to drip has allowed us to double our planting area without increasing our water usage.

The kids take turns on the planting machine -- here they are on break!

Starting the drip tape installation.

The last plant!

Hooray! Lets celebrate the end of planting with a pontoon ride on our new irrigation pond!

Good job guys!