June Update (updated June 19, 2018)
Friends of The Berry Patch-
Greetings!
Weather permitting, we intend to be open from 8am- 1pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for sales of PYO and picked berries.
Fruit quality is really good, and warm weather has turned a fair amount of fruit ripe, and we expect ample quantities available. Price of PYO strawberries is $2.50/lb., and picking containers are provided.
We're taking orders for picked strawberries. Prices is $27 for a flat of 12 pints, or about 9 lbs of fruit. Call our voicemail to place an order: 651 433 3448. Tell us your name, phone number, the quantity of berries you're interested in, and what day you'd like to pick them up. We'll call you back to confirm your order.
Here's a quick overview of how things are looking so far:
Strawberries: We started picking this past weekend, and hope the season will run three full weeks, and maybe a bit more. We've got three different fields of different ages and varieties. One of those fields was planted a year ago, just a month before the major storm; that field is in the best condition. Two of those fields were renovated last summer, though we weren't able to do a great job given the conditions we were dealing with; way too weedy for our preferences, but it's what we were able to do. We kept them in the hopes they would give us decent berries this year; so far so good.
Raspberries: As of this date, raspberries are now flowering. Our bearing canes are shorter than normal (they didn't have a normal amount of time to regrow after last year's June hailstorm), but it does seem we'll have a reasonable amount of fruit. We anticipate picking starting after July 4.
Blueberries: Unlike strawberries and raspberries which seem to have not suffered from our long, cold winter, our blueberry crop will definitely be down this year due to winter kill. We will have a partial crop at best, but we will have some berries. The good news is that plants are sending out vigorous new growth that will mature later this year and hopefully set us up for a good crop of new canes and strong flower buds for next year. Hope springs eternal in the heart of a farmer!