Opening in about one week....

Hello, Dear Patient Strawberry People,

Yesterday, our weeding efforts were rewarded with ripe strawberries.  What a marvelous thing it is, to be out in the field with my children, and have them eager and happy to weed because they see red jewels popping up around them.  The flavor was magnificent -- worth the long, long wait!

We are in a whirlwind of activity here on the farm, getting ready to welcome you.  I can't wait to see all your faces when you behold the fields for the first time this summer.  Imagine what it is like when you haven't seen a child for a few years, and you come back and exclaim, "My, how you've grown!"  That's what it will be like!  The fields stretch so far, and they are so incredibly full of blossoms and white strawberries. 

U-Pick: We still hope to open late next week, or the first week of July.  Dan is modifying a hay wagon so that you can have rides to and from the field - won't that be fun?  Plan now for a family outing the week of the 4th of July - even the day of the 4th! 

Pre-Picked: NO ORDERS YET - I think we'll be able to start taking orders next week, but it depends on the weather, and we all know how changeable that can be! I'll keep you posted via e-mail and Facebook.

Giddy with excitement, and hoping you pass this on to LOTS of your friends and neighbors,

Sarah

p.s. Check out our Facebook page and while you're there, be sure to Like us!

p.p.s. Got questions?  Check out our FAQ's page!

First 2014 Strawberry E-Mail

I love seeing all those white flowers!

Hello all you lovers of locally-grown, super-sweet, Minnesota strawberries.  What a joy it is to be able to write you, finally, after a long and challenging winter.  The past few weeks, since the sun finally came out, have been a blur of activity as we have raced to get our baby strawberry plants into the ground and then to take care of them post-planting. 

This is only a quarter of our producing field!

 Meanwhile, we've been removing the straw from our mature plants, and prepping them for harvest.  We have been astonished at the size and proliferation of the plants and blossoms we are now seeing.  Lord willing, we will have an absolutely massive crop of strawberries in just a few weeks! The rows are loaded with white blossoms, just waiting for the sunshine, the rain, and the pollinators to work their magic and swell them into giant, red, luscious fruit. 

Thick & heavy blossom pack!

Quadrupling the business:  Last year, we were picking off just one acre; this year we have nearly FOUR acres just weeks away from harvest! 
Pass it on: If you are as excited about this enormous growth of the strawberry patch as we are, and want to help us out, would you please forward this e-mail to a friend, co-worker, or neighbor? 

The baby strawberry plants are just breaking dormancy.

Facebook: If you are curious about life on the farm the past few months, I've been posting  photos on Facebook.  While you are there, be sure to "Like" us and/or to write a recommendation for others who are just hearing about our farm!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brouwer-Berries/
When? We think the first strawberries will ripen around June 28, and the season will last through the 3rd week of July. 

How Can I Get Strawberries? I will let you know via e-mail and Facebook when we are ready to take orders for pre-picked berries and when we will open for U-picking.  Any other information you can find on our website: 
 http://www.brouwerberries.com/prices_and_procedures.html

We're looking forward to seeing you soon!

 Sarah

--

Dan & Sarah on some Dirty Dates:)

You want to know the dirty details of our delightful date life?  Why not?  I bet you didn't know that Dan and I have date night every night.  Not joking.  Every night after supper for the past two months, I head outside and work beside my husband at whatever task he's in the mood to do.

We get down and dirty doing yard clean-up and walking through the strawberry fields to discuss plans, and dream together.  We boiled sap for maple syrup, put up part of a high tunnel, planted a few hundred trees and hopefully tonight we'll butcher turkeys.  No city guy could entertain his lady with such a wide variety of dates, eh? 

When it was too cold to work outside, my husband took me to strawberry grower workshops - five full days worth!    I got wined, dined, and educated -- I'm even collecting a few more college credits just for fun.  I'm learning all about dirt, more scientifically known as "the rhizosphere surrounding our plant roots", the interactions between soil and air, and other absolutely crucial information:)   There's no chance to be bored on a farm!

California Gold

Whenever I hear about the drought in California, I think back to that emotional moment in the fall of 2012 when we struck water on our farm.  Underground water!  Until you've farmed you have no idea -- No Idea -- how crucial water is.   When I first moved to Minnesota I used to laugh at those silly farmers who drove around after a rainfall looking at rain gauges in their various fields.  Here's a poem I once mocked them with:

In Leota
there is lots to do
Like watch corn grow
and hear cows moo...

I was SO CLUELESS!  Now, I live and die inside by the amount of precipitation we get and the speed of the winds, aching over how they will affect our strawberry plants.   I watch AgDay with my husband.  In the morning I find out how much rain they are having in Brazil and Argentina and how it will affect commodity prices, and marvel at this entire world and its' interconnectedness.  Water!  What a blessing!  And farmers...definitely have a bit more upstairs than I used to give them credit for:)

Shhh...the tax guy thinks this is an "irrigation pond:)"

The world outside our windows is frozen in snow and ice.  To get some relief, Dan and I started scrolling through photos of last year.  We absolutely swooned at the photos of our irrigation pond.  We love that place!  Duinincks dug it for  us in the fall of 2012 after we hadn't had rain in 9 weeks, and what a blessing that pond has been! Pontooning, swimming, skating...even sledding down the banks in the winter though I don't have a photo of it.  Oh yeah, we use it for irrigation, too:) 

Here are some photos of the pond in it's infancy.  Thanks Duininck Companies for doing such a great job shaping the dirt!  They shaped the land to direct water flow in such as way as to minimize erosion while maximizing retainment of rainwater and snowmelt.  Water management is essential for us since strawberries are a perennial crop! 

The Perfect Little Gift

Aren't they adorable?  Local, unique, healthy, flavorful, and just the right size to fit in a little gift bag for everyone on your list...teachers, co-workers, friends, extended family members... all those people you want to treat with a perfect little something special. 

$5.00/jar or buy 10 get 2 free

Call (320)967-4718
or e-mail brberries@gmail.com

I am in Renville, Clara City, and Willmar weekly, and if you live within those areas, I will deliver right to your home if you order 4 or more jars.  That's four gifts taken care of just as the holiday season is starting!


Strawberry:  The fabulous taste of  MN strawberries is captured in these preserves made from strawberries fresh from our field.  We use calcium instead of sugar to thicken our preserves, so every bite is bursting with health and flavor.  Mix it with yogurt, top off your ice cream, or slather it on your toast, waffles, muffins or scones.

Strawberry-Cranberry:Tart cranberries add a tangy explosion to these flavorful preserves that will cause your sun-starved salivary glands to kick into high gear.  Set this on your Thanksgiving or Christmas buffet table as a fun alternative  to plain cranberry sauce.  Use after the party on turkey sandwiches, roasted or baked turkey, roasted or grilled vegetables, tossed into a salad, or on toast. 

Grandma’s Sweet Strawberry:  Summer delight is captured in this old-fashioned recipe for strawberry jam just like

Grandma used to make it. Mix it with yogurt, top off your ice cream, or spread it on your toast. 

Strawberry-Jalapeno: Try some ‘heat with the sweet’ on your grilled meat, or tease your taste buds with crackers, cream cheese, and our Strawberry-Jalapeno Preserves!  Spoon it over salmon or chicken and oven bake it. Brush it over fish or meats as a glaze just before pulling it off the grill. Spread it over a block of soft goat cheese as an appetizer.  Slip it into a grilled cheese sandwich and call it a Jamwich. Set it out at a party by a bowl of pretzels. Not overly hot; this combo is formulated for Northerners:)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Tangy on your taste-buds, this delightful combination is only for people who grew up in the North and have developed a taste for the piquancy of rhubarb!  Spread it on toast, top off a waffle, or eat it straight out of the jar for a trip down memory lane.

Strawberry-Chocolate: Creamy and rich, the chocolate enhances the strawberry to a burst of satisfying flavor.  Use as an ice-cream topping, dessert spread, or on anything you eat for breakfast, just so that you can start your day in a healthy way, with chocolate.

Jammin' Time

Are you starting to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations?  Are you racking your brain for fabulous gifts and party food ideas?  Look no further, Brouwer Berries' jams and preserves will delight your friends and family, and enhance your holiday parties in a uniquely flavorful way!

You can benefit from the fun I had this fall experimenting with new recipes, and filling dozens of jars with pure strawberry jam and interesting strawberry combinations.  I use only Pomona's Universal Pectin, so each jar has a minimum of sugar, allowing the flavors of the fruit to burst forth exquisitely.  The ingredient list on each jar tells the story -- except for Grandma's Sweet Strawberry, every jar has more fruit than sugar.

I'll be at the Clara City Craft Sale on Saturday, November 2, from 9-4, with samples of each kind.    You can get individual jars for $5.00 each, or buy 10, get 2 free, of mix 'n match flavors. 

Strawberry:  The fabulous taste of  MN strawberries is captured in these preserves made from strawberries fresh from our field.  We use calcium instead of sugar to thicken our preserves, so every bite is bursting with health and flavor.  Mix it with yogurt, top off your ice cream, or slather it on your toast, waffles, muffins or scones.

Strawberry-Cranberry:Tart cranberries add a tangy explosion to these flavorful preserves that will cause your sun-starved salivary glands to kick into high gear.  Set this on your Thanksgiving or Christmas buffet table as a fun alternative  to plain cranberry sauce.  Use after the party on turkey sandwiches, roasted or baked turkey, roasted or grilled vegetables, tossed into a salad, or on toast. 

Grandma’s Sweet Strawberry:  Summer delight is captured in this old-fashioned recipe for strawberry jam just like

Grandma used to make it. Mix it with yogurt, top off your ice cream, or spread it on your toast. 

Strawberry-Jalapeno: Try some ‘heat with the sweet’ on your grilled meat, or tease your taste buds with crackers, cream cheese, and our Strawberry-Jalapeno Preserves!  Spoon it over mahi-mahi, swordfish or chicken and oven bake it. Melt it and brush it over fish or meats as a glaze just before pulling it off the grill. Spoon it over a block of soft goat cheese as an appetizer.  Make it into a grilled cheese sandwich and call it a Jamwich. You may not want to spread this jam on your morning toast or drizzle it over a buttered biscuit. Then again, you may:)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Tangy on your taste-buds, this delightful combination is only for people who grew up in the North and have developed a taste for the piquancy of rhubarb!  Spread it on toast, top off a waffle, or eat it straight out of the jar for a trip down memory lane.

Strawberry-Chocolate: Creamy and rich, the chocolate enhances the strawberry to a burst of satisfying flavor.  Use as an ice-cream topping, dessert spread, or on anything you eat for breakfast, just so that you can start your day in a healthy way, with chocolate. 

Strawberry-Peach: Sweet, juicy peaches mingle with the strawberries in this delicious concoction, while a hint of cinnamon kicks up the flavor factor to a fantastic level. Delectable!  This recipe has so little sugar that it could practically be eaten straight out of the jar and called a fruit serving!

Raspberry: Delight your senses with a taste of our fantastic, raspberry spread.  Rich and tangy with a perfect balance of sweetness, it enhances everything from toast to ice cream to poultry to pork.