Strawberry Season is Here! (and Another Lesson Learned)

I looked and looked for a “healthy” strawberry farmer, and found some pretty good ones, but with the information that my friends Hope and Luke (Branches Ecological Designs) gave to me, none of them were “good enough.” I tried to hide from the information…stuck my fingers in my ears and sang the La, La, La song, but it didn’t work.

I was in Strawberry Hell. I didn’t want to pay $14 a bucket for strawberries when I could get a bucket at the next best place for $7. I did my own research in an effort to find a reason to ignore the big problem with almost all non-organic strawberry farms: methyl bromide. The more I read, the more upset I became. That stuff is the atomic bomb of soil. It kills everything while at the same time destroying the ozone layer 50 times faster than CFCs. It sickens farm workers. It is so terrible it is being phased out, to be replaced by methyl iodide, a more toxic killer.

Hope patiently explained to me that organic strawberries need no fumigants such as methyl bromide because the plants are naturally adapted to handle the pests and fungus in the soil. Finally I was able to move forward and go for the organic berries, and was I ever glad I did! They had to be the best food I EVER ate! We will see if I say that again when I go back to the farm for blackberries later in the summer. Colson and I ate and ate and ate and ate… And we picked and picked and picked. We picked about 30 pounds in anticipation of fall and winter smoothies this year. We have at least one or two more trips to make.

Where is this strawberry heaven? In Bunn, North Carolina. If you are in the area, check out Vollmer Farm. You will only be happy you did.

Thank you, Hope and Luke!

P.S. Hope offered this clarification to my uneducated understanding of farming:

A slight clarification: it is not "the plants that are naturally adapted to handle pests and fungus" but the soil that encourages diversity of life above and below the soil level and hopefully create an atmosphere of checks and balances for the plants' environment.  A major premise of organic farming is to create healthier soil.  The farmers also tend to utilize crop rotation, black plastic to suppress weeds that would hamper air flow and possibly harbor disease, and cover crops."

Thank goodness for good friends and community!

Comments

[Melissa]

Sigh... I miss Vollmer Farm! They really did have the best strawberries I've ever tasted. We went and picked 4 different times and ate all the berries. I haven't been able to find an organic strawberry farm here in GA, and I'm afraid to take the kids picking at a conventional one because they will want to eat as they pick (not to mention all those chemicals get in through their skin too). Enjoy that wonderful resource you all have!!!