Tag Archives: U-pick

From Downturn to Delicious Success: The Story of Berry Good Farms

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Tifton, GA

It’s no secret that Georgia is one of the most diverse states when it comes to agriculture, and that is well represented here at Berry Good Farms in Tifton, where everything from asparagus, to persimmons, to strawberries are grown throughout the year. It all began thanks to a passion for farming and a downturn in the economy more than fifteen years ago.

“At that time, I had a mortgage company, which really set this thing on fire when the mortgage industry was in a financial crisis in 2008, which really hurt the home sales. We do mortgages, home mortgages, and so it sort of just pushed me to the farm more often and I was always planting something,” says Bob Welker, Owner of Berry Good Farms.

While he might have grown up on a dairy farm, Welker has specialized in providing the community with the highest quality fruits, including two that are a staple during the summer months. However, in order to get them, you have to make a trip out to his farm.

“That’s the only way we sale it. We don’t ship. We don’t freeze anything. It’s just all fresh fruit. We’ll either pick it for a customer or typically we like customers to pick their own and they enjoy it, it’s a family type event. We have blackberries, blueberries, strawberries. The attraction really is blueberries and blackberries. Those are the two items that we promote the most. It’s also what I have the most of. I have approximately six acres of blueberries and almost four acres of blackberries,” says Welker.

Even though growing the blackberries come with a unique set of challenges, it is a fruit that does grow pretty well here in the state when properly taken care of.

“If there’s a problem with them, they’re not like a blueberry that are very tolerant of diseases. Blackberries will pick up a lot of different problems. The most recent is the orange blotch. That is caused with an algae. We use a little bit of copper, and it will knock it out, but it has to be on a regular basis and it’s every year now,” says Welker.

If he has anything to say about it, Welker will be at it for many more years to come, as the enjoyment he gets serving the community and tending to his crop helps get him out of bed each and every morning.

“I enjoy it a lot, particularly when everything is running smoothly. It’s getting a little harder now that I’m getting a little bit older, but it’s still very rewarding in that there’s always something. I don’t have to worry about what I’m doing the next day. I just walk out the door and it will slap you in the face,” says Welker.

By: Damon Jones

Southwest Georgia U-Pick Strawberry Operation Going Strong After 22 Years

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Moultrie, GA

Beautiful skies, rows of ripe strawberries, and family time – things you can find on U-pick operations across the state, just like this one, Ochlockonee Ridge Farms in Moultrie. A strawberry operation started by the Hart family more than two-decades ago when they decided to diversify their family farm and create a place for people to enjoy.

“We are a diversified farm. We also do cotton, peanuts, small grains, and cattle. We are in a very competitive area; there’s some very good farmers in this area, so the competition for land is pretty intense, so we had to figure out a way to increase profitability, and so, my sister came up with this idea; she had been to Washington Farms outside of Athens and Clarke County, and my dad had just retired as a vocational ag teacher and thought it may be something that would fit. Since that time we have expanded it, as far as the U-Pick business and we do a little bit of direct sales, whole selling red strawberries to end users which would be cafeterias, mainly schools,” says Farm Manager, Trey Hart.

This year is their twenty-second crop, and as you can see, they’ve got tons of perfectly ripe berries ready to be picked. However, getting them to this point hasn’t been easy, as Hart says mother nature has been tricky.

“We started with eighty degree temperatures in February, really set a crop and that came in early March and I thought, ‘man we’re about to be off to the races,'” says Hart. “Since that time, it’s just been kind of cool and warm, alternating with little spats of rain, but the rain has come in such a way this year that it really has not affected my quality very much, but I like for my growth curve to go up very quickly once we start picking and this year it’s been a very slow increase and we just haven’t been able to get the real volume that I want but I will say we’ve had good participation.”

Good participation indeed. In fact, Hart says that since the days of COVID, their business has grown year over year, so much so that they’re planning on expanding their patch – something he says hasn’t happened in more than a decade.

“We originally had better than three acres of strawberries. We cut that back to one and a half acres and then we built that back up to what we have currently, which is about two acres,” says Hart. “If you look out in the field over my shoulder, where those flags are, we’re going to expand the patch a little bit for the first time in about twelve years and that’s to better service my wholesale buyers, my school systems, which we deal with most of the surrounding school systems, as well as keep my U-pick business happy, because my whole hallmark is that we don’t pick anything that is not red, ripe, and ready to be used.”

By: John Holcomb

Spring is U-Pick Season

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FAYETTEVILLE, GA – With temperatures on the rise, so are the amount of people making their way to U-Pick operations like Adams Farm, a 4th generation operation that gives visitors not only a fun day in the field, but also satisfies all their produce needs.

“We pick berries. Right now, we have strawberries that are ready and soon we will have blackberries and blueberries and raspberries that are ready. That’s the U-pick operation, but we also have a large roadside market where many of our vegetables later in the season will be offered to people to purchase. The U-pick is what’s going on right now and it’s the fun thing. You know, you can’t help smiling because everyone comes in excited and they leave very happily with a bucket full of huge, red strawberries,” says Virginia Adams.

That is very apparent as people of all ages get their fill of some the freshest strawberries right out of the field. It’s an activity the Adams’ have been happy to share with the public for the past two decades.

“Probably in the year ’98 a lot of land we were renting was sold and they built schools on it. So, we were cut down to not much acreage. So, we had to change our operation entirely. So, we started the U-pick part of it,” says Russell Adams.

This year’s strawberry crop looks to be another good one despite cooler weather early in the spring. As for his secret to success, Adams credits attention to detail.

“Just a lot of love and care is all I can tell you. They’re on a regular fertilizer program and we just look after them. We sat up a lot of nights protecting them when they got cold, freeze protecting them and fertilizing them, and everything else that goes along with it,” says Russell.

With that cooler weather, it was important the fruit be frost protected. However, Adams’ method of doing so was unlike the majority of producers.

“Well, I do it a little differently from a lot of people,” says Russell. “I use irrigation on mine. A lot of people use row covers. The main reason I do that is because I have a lot of things I freeze protect other than strawberries. I do my blueberries also and I can’t put row covers on blueberries. So, I just do the whole thing at one time.”

Those who stop by also get an education on what it takes to produce their food, which is more important than ever as the surrounding areas have become for urbanized.

“Most people don’t know about agriculture,” says Virginia. “The children think that it comes from the store. But they learn when they come on a farm that’s a U-pick, that it really does not. You have to see it growing in the field around you to know what it’s all about and it’s fun to share the story and to have people know where their food comes from, from the people that toil hard for it to go to your table.”

Spreading this information along with her family is one of the true joys Virginia has running this Fayetteville mainstay.

“The fact that I’m able to work with my family, my daughter is a part of our business and my husband and it gives me great pride to be to say we are a fourth-generation farmer and it’s going to be passed down to the next farmer who will take it over. That makes me proud,” says Virginia.

By: Damon Jones