2015 - What's Coming This Year!

New Year greetings to all of our friends and customers.  Irma and I are wishing you all a healthy and prosperous new year.
 
First, thank you all for your support of our new business.  2014 was our second full year of operation and we are thankful for all of you who are repeat customers and for all of you who came to visit for the first time.  Our main goal has been to be a family-friendly place where you will be able to get great quality fruit and vegetables, and enjoy being out in the country.  The strawberry and raspberry season were fantastic last year, and we also sold an abundance of asparagus, carrots, broccoli, watermelons, winter squash, currants, sweet corn, kale and an assortment of many other fresh produce items. Our blueberries were planted in 2013 and it looked like we would have a few to sell, but the birds beat us by about two days.  We should have some blueberries this season, along with some apples. Our Family Fun Day in September turned out to be a beautiful day, with so many people enjoying relaxing with their families.  We truly enjoyed one of the new additions, the corn box(sand box with corn kernels).  Irma laughs as she tells about the parents trying to get their children out of the box, the kids frantically grasping for the corn to try to hold themselves in the corn box as the parents lift their kids out.  And we can't leave out the pumpkin-corn maze season.  A friend stopped by and asked if he could fly his quadcopter around.  For some people, it would be called a remote-controlled drone.  Gary had a camera tied to the bottom and took photos of the corn maze.   Within 2 hours of postings it on Facebook, we had four families who went  through it. You may have guessed this, but we are going to have Gary come back with his quadcopter. Although it is not definite, we will probably be creating a pirate ship for our large corn maze this year, but I can't guarantee Johnny Depp to be here.
 
Many of you have commented on how kind, helpful and friendly our employees are.  Thanks, and we agree.  Some of you know their names because they have been here a while, and I we want to mention some of the regulars.  Maddie and Kennedy are cousins from New Richmond.  They have helped all three years since we first started planting at White Pine.  Maddie is a freshman at UW-Eau Claire and Kennedy is a senior at New Richmond.  Their smiles and willingness to do whatever we needed to be done made our lives easier.  We hope they come back again this summer. Our intern from UW-River Falls was Jessica.  She would never say 'no' to anything we needed done.  Jessica is graduating in May so we wish her the best, but also hope she will be back this summer.  And Ana was often seen out hoeing and weeding and keeping everything looking good.  Our grown children were so much help, too. Besides planning and organizing with us, Tanya helps with the corn maze and brings so many guests to visit.  Steph takes care of the website and Facebook, and her husband, Jason, has helped Greg with an assortment of jobs.  Andrew is always full of ideas, and although he and his new wife, Kim, live 6 hours away,  they have helped with analyzing the farm's financial results and helped with each of the special activities.
 
And now, a quick glimpse for 2015.  You will be a new high tunnel (it looks like a plastic covered greenhouse).  It will be a season extension growing area, with mostly vegetables planted inside.  We are not intending to heat it at this time, but may be planting some cold tolerant veggies in there this February.  In June, we are planning a Strawberry Shortcake and Ice Cream Social and in July a bluegrass musical festival.  We also have some weddings scheduled.  We will planning on becoming organically certified this year, too.  Stay tuned for more info as the year progresses.
 
Warmest Regards,
 
Greg and Irma at White Pine Berry Farm