First Day of Strawberry U-Pick:

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
9AM to 3PM

$2.65 per pound
$32 for 10-pound pre-picked flat (at farm during U-Pick days/hours)

cash, checks and credit cards accepted

Come visit us at the farm - pick some great organic strawberries (ask us about why growing organic strawberries matters!)

Get regular news from Kay's Strawberry Update page

June 29th: The Perfect Storm

A week of hot, hot, hot weather kept some of you out of the strawberry field.  Those who came out were rewarded with some great berries and some great picking.  The weather turned this weekend, a relieving cool breeze and dramatic drop in temperature and humidity.  “What a perfect weekend for strawberry picking,” you said.  Diligently you called the hotline or checked the website, packed a lunch and put your to-do list together for the day, with strawberry picking at JenEhr somewhere in the middle of the list/day. (Phase one of the perfect storm – conditions are just perfect).

8AM on Sunday morning at the farm, the crew of five is setting up tents, cash register, flags, boxes and all the other little details associated with a day of strawberry Upick.  The first driver, who left home way too soon and drove way too fast because they were so excited, drove up at 8:30 and waited patiently as we finished setting up.  By 9AM, a small line of cars started rolling onto the farm.  Sarah and Laura were at their stations, flags in hands, ready to get people started picking in rows.  Brittany and Karolina were under the big tent, behind the weighing and paying table.  And Kay (me) was at the head of the traffic line, directing folks in parking and the basics of where to pick and pay. (phase two of the perfect storm – everything literally lines up in perfect succession).

9:45 AM, forty five minutes after we’d opened the floodgates to the strawberry fields, we had about 200 cars parked and at least three times that many people in the field.  We were parking cars in an adjacent field and even on the side of the road.  The rows were loaded, both sides facing each other, and working towards each other.  Wow, what a great day at the strawberry field – except we only grow about three acres of strawberries and there is no way we could fit another person even in the field. (Phase three of the perfect storm – too much of a really good thing will still cause the boat to roil, with great disturbances to those along for the ride).

By 10AM, I was on the phone, frantically changing the voice mail messages and strawberry hotline number, simultaneously fingers flying across the keyboard to update the website – Closed by Noon – picked out, no more strawberries today. While Paul worked the check out, going down the line scale and money belt in hand, helping those with small children, cash and checks get through the line faster, I stood guard at the end of the driveway, directing traffic out of the farm and diverting, with mournful explanations, of no more strawberries and possible solutions to unhappy drivers. (Phase four of the perfect storm – chaos/crisis management, storm clean up and setting an agenda for what next).

By 2PM, we’d taken down wind torn tents, put away the cash register and scales and headed up to Sassy Cow for a much need ice cream break.  A rehash of what we could have done differently while licking our waffle filled cones. (Step five of the perfect storm – rehash of process with ice cream as solace).