Long Awaited!
They're here, the strawberries you've all been waiting for - a few weeks later than usual, but big, red and worth eating! What was the delay all about this year, you wonder? Wildlife, I'm pretty sure. The strawberries were the first thing we planted into the New Nine field across the road last fall. We had just gotten our water right approved from the state, which meant green light on bringing the new field into production. We'd been cover cropping the new ground for two seasons to prepare for cash crops, but hadn't bitten the bullet yet and invested in any infrastructure like deer fencing and irrigation. The field was in farming limbo while we waited on the water.
But with water rights in hand we took the leap and planted our new strawberry crop into a lovely, loamy half acre of the new field. That was November/December. Under the crush of major infrastructure projects this winter - building a new greenhouse and putting in a new irrigation mainline - we didn't get our new deer fence up until March. Well, it turns out that deer have quite the palate for strawberry plants. They nibbled them hard and even uprooted a bunch in those couple of fence-free months - enough to set the plants back a few weeks this summer.
The good news is that the deer fence is doing its job and the strawberry patch looks better than ever now. As it ramps up into full production we'll be turning over at least half of the new beds to u-pick and harvesting the remainder for weekly Harvest Baskets, farmstand, stores and restaurants. If you've u-picked at the farm before, you'll notice that we've switched to a new strawberry production system with "living" paths. I love the way it looks and the bees love the white clover blossoms.
Enjoy this first pint of berries - it feels like a fitting way to celebrate the New Nine!
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