Doing Battle with the Enemy of all Farmers

"Die weeds!  Die!"

Words can't express how overwhelmed we were with the numbers of people arriving at our farm each day throughout the strawberry season.  It was just beautiful to see family after family coming up the path to our shop.  Thank you so much for coming, and for affirming the value of our family farm. 

We reign victorious over the fallen enemy:)

It's been a whirlwind of work since we closed down the strawberry picking last week.  The weeds are sneaky little buggers, and they were trying to choke the life out of our baby strawberry plants while we were distracted with the harvest in our mature plants.  Some long, dedicated hours out in the patch have nearly taken care of those.  Even my two year old was hacking away at them crying, "Die weeds!  Die!" at the top of his lungs.  The older kids kept coming up with comparisons to battle fields, and the casualties we were leaving behind us, gasping for mercy in the hot sun.  It's a very satisfying task to tackle as a family.

In the heat of battle...

Dan has spent dozens of hours on his little tractor, planting cover crops in the land intended for our 2016 and 2017 crops.  These cover crops have intriguing names such as Sudan Grass, Rye, and my favorite, Hairy Vetch.  They will inject nutrients and organic matter into the soil that will give our future crops great flavor and nutrition, and also protect the soil from heavy rains and drought.

We are looking forward with excitement to next summer when we will have, Lord willing, six acres of strawberries instead of four.   We're contemplating all sorts of fun things to add to the farm, such as a children's play area, and a petting zoo.  Let me know what you think would be a great addition to our farm.  In the meantime, we'd love it if you'd write a review of your experience this year on our Facebook page. 

Wonderful organic matter to be incorporated into the soil!

Rented tractor and planter for seeding cover crop.  

With grateful hearts,
Dan & Sarah Brouwer and family

In Season; amazing; fresh; local

Hello, dear strawberry people,

The rain on Saturday and the cool temperatures have done amazing things for our late season strawberries.  Dan just came out of the field and told me we have large strawberries for hundreds more U-pickers. 

There are no bugs, thanks to a healthy breeze, and the weather is just lovely for spending some time out in the strawberry patch, gathering up summer's goodness to pack away into the freezer to nourish your family and keep them healthy through the long winter months that are coming. 

U-Pick: Please pass the word to all your friends and family that we are open until 8 tonight, and probably open the next few days from 8 am to 8 pm as we harvest these late-season beauties.   Check the website www.brouwerberries.com to confirm hours. 

Pre-Picked: Keep an eye on Facebook, or give us a call (320)967-4718 and we'll let you know if we have extra flats of pre-picked each day. 

Thanks again to all of you who have visited us already, and who have told your friends about our farm!

Sarah

Blink and you might miss it...

Good evening,

As you all know, the strawberry season is like the town of Prinsburg...blink, and you miss it, and like all small towns, you would miss a treasure:)  So, here's your nudge if you haven't yet had a chance to make it out to the strawberry field for the 2014 season.

We started picking in the late-season varieties Monday, and depending on the weather, they will go all of this week, and possibly into next week.  The late-season variety, called Winona, is a favorite with many of you for its' flavor, which is like a cross between a peach and a strawberry.  Mmmm.

The wagon rides were an enormous hit for people of all ages this week, including my own children who took dozens of round-trips just for the fun of it.  It certainly simplified things for people with a lot of kids and a lot of berries to get back to the front part of our farm.

We have a new photo op on our farm! Natalie Brouwer, an extremely talented CMCS junior, and one of our employees, painted a remake of "American Gothic" for us.  You can see photos on our blog.

U-pick: Opening 8 am Wednesday morning, and we'll close when we are sold out. Check our website to confirm before coming out.  I'll post updates throughout each day.

Pre-picked: Taking orders for any day this week, and we'll try to keep extra on the shelf for drive-ups.  I'll post on Facebook when we have extra. We probably won't do orders next week. 

Thanks so much to all of you who have told your friends and family about our farm this summer.  It has been a joy and a wonder to welcome hundreds of new people here every day, and to feel the satisfaction that comes when many hands are working together to bring in the harvest.

Sarah

Natalie Brouwer's 'American Gothic'

It's been a dream of ours, ever since we opened, to make the farm about more than just strawberries.  We want to make it a gathering place for children and families.  A place for people to connect with the farm and the food they eat that grows out of the earth and the sun and the rain and the goodness of the Father in heaven who provides.

Natalie Brouwer, who shares our name but is not related, has worked for us three summers.  As we've gotten to know her, we've been amazed to watch her artistic skill develop.  This summer, Dan and I commissioned her to paint us a "cut-out" that people could pose behind.  We gave her carte-blanche.

She came up with this remake of Grant Wood's 'American Gothic.'   According to the New York Times, "Steven Biel, who has written a book on the  the painting,  'American Gothic' has evolved from iconoclasm to icon to parody. Biel documents the process and speculates about how it happened, ultimately claiming that 'American Gothic' ranks in importance as a recognizable national emblem alongside the flag, the eagle and the Statue of Liberty."
 (Read full article)

Farming is an integral part of this nation, and it is our pleasure to welcome many people to our farm throughout the strawberry season.  We're delighted with this contribution by Natalie Brouwer, and hope that many people will use it as a photo opportunity, and a reminder of the farming heritage we all share.