The Berry Dairy

The Berry Dairy Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from The Berry Dairy, Farm, 379 Mewburn Park Road, Maffra.
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Currently closed for the season reopening 1st of October!

📍379 Mewburn Park Road, Maffra

🍓Strawberry Picking ☕️ Café 🐮 Petting Zoo 🛝 Playground 🍦 Ice Cream & Desserts 🥩 Farm Produce 🍷 Licensed

13/06/2026

Part 6: Strawberry Planting Day

This year we planted around 25,000 strawberry plants, using two different types of planting stock.

The first are bare-root runners, which are the traditional way commercial strawberry plants are supplied. They’re essentially just the crown and roots, packed 500 plants to a box and ready to be planted straight into the field.

We’re also trialling some plug plants this year, which are becoming increasingly popular in the strawberry industry. These arrive already established in soil and are packed 200 plants to a box.

While they’re more expensive, they’re easier to plant, establish more quickly, and generally have higher survival rates after planting.

We’re excited to compare the two and see how they perform throughout the season.

Tomorrow I’ll show you how we actually get 25,000 strawberry plants into the ground! 🍓🚜

🚜🍓

12/06/2026

Part 5: A Bit of a Setback

We were all set for planting when we got hit with 90mm of rain in a single day, turning the whole patch into a muddy mess.

While it delayed planting, it did highlight a few areas where our drainage needed improvement, so we took the opportunity to fix those before the plants went in. It was hard work in the wet clay, and a huge thank you to my dad who was over helping us get it sorted.

Once things dried out enough, we could finally get back on track. The next step was marking all the planting holes using a gas burner. The holes are spaced 30cm apart in an offset pattern, allowing us to fit two rows of strawberries into each bed while giving the plants enough room to grow.

Tomorrow: actually planting day 😂

🚜🍓

11/06/2026

Part 4: Picking Up the Plants

It was an early start for this one, with a 3-hour drive from home to pick up our strawberry runners from Toolangi Strawberry Growers Co-op.

And this is what 20,000 strawberry plants look like! 😳🍓

We actually pre-order our runners around 12 months in advance. The plants are grown by the co-op under strict quality standards to ensure they’re healthy, high-quality plants with minimal pest and disease risk.

A question I get asked a lot is whether we use our own runners to grow the next crop. The answer is no. While strawberry plants naturally produce runners, commercial growers generally purchase certified runner plants rather than propagating their own. This helps maintain plant health, vigour and productivity year after year.

Next up… planting day!

🚜🍓

10/06/2026

Part 3: Bed Forming Day

So we’ve been prepping this patch for nearly 3 months… but somehow it still became panic stations 48 hours before planting! 😅

Anyone else’s husband leaves everything until the last minute?

Last year we purchased this strawberry bed former from a retiring strawberry farmer near the NSW border. It’s a pretty specialised piece of equipment that was built specifically for strawberries, and I spent a long time trying to find the right one.

This machine does several jobs in a single pass. It uses tines to break up and refine the soil one final time, shapes it into raised strawberry beds, and then lays the plastic mulch over the top.

Tomorrow I’ll show you how we planted more than 21,000 strawberry plants across the new patch. 🍓

🚜🍓

09/06/2026

Part two: Irrigation and more soil prep!

With the soil prepared, it was time to install our irrigation system.

This year we’ve switched from drip tape to overhead irrigation for a few reasons. Firstly, our Gippsland summers can get hot and dry, and I found it difficult to keep enough moisture in the beds using drip alone. Secondly, we had a few challenges with the drip system itself. Leaks were difficult to find and repair, and it often felt like we were constantly chasing problems.

The other big advantage is sustainability. Drip tape generally needs replacing every time we replant strawberries, whereas our overhead system is permanent, reducing waste and saving resources in the long run.

Once the irrigation was installed, we spread our fertiliser program. We applied an NPKS blend along with lime to help improve soil structure and create the best possible growing conditions for the new plants.

The final step before bed forming was refining the soil. We ran over the area again with the power harrow and then the rotary hoe to create a fine, even seedbed. We also spread this process over a couple of weeks, allowing the soil to weather naturally between passes, which helps break down clods and produce a much finer finish.

Tomorrow I’ll show you how we form the strawberry beds ready for planting.

🍓🚜

08/06/2026

Part One: Planting 25,000 new strawberry plants 🍓

We’ll be the first to admit it - our first strawberry patches weren’t great.

But we’ve only been growing strawberries for 3 years, and every season we’ve learnt something new. Each planting has helped us improve, and we’re constantly looking for ways to grow better spray-free berries and create a better experience for everyone who visits.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll take you behind the scenes as 25,000 new strawberry plants go into the ground, from start to finish. We’ll share the process, the lessons we’ve learnt, and the improvements we’re making along the way.

First up: soil preparation.

Our old strawberry plants have been producing for 3 years, so it’s time for a refresh. We start by spraying out the old plants, removing the mulch and old strawberry crowns, then ploughing and power harrowing the soil to create a clean slate for the next crop.

Before we form the beds, we’re also installing overhead sprinkler irrigation and laying all the pipework.

Tomorrow, I’ll explain more about our irrigation system, why we’re installing it, and how it works 💦 🍓

Happy Birthday to the Strawberry Princess 🍓👑The only person I know who can demolish a 1kg punnet in one sitting, unfortu...
01/06/2026

Happy Birthday to the Strawberry Princess 🍓👑

The only person I know who can demolish a 1kg punnet in one sitting, unfortunately has now discovered the chocolate tap 😂

She loves helping me serve at the till on the weekend, knows how to ding the bell at the kitchen and place her chicken nuggets order, and find petting zoo food and checks in on the animals (ignoring the do not climb signs).

22/05/2026

Or maybe he is an Alpaca? Still haven’t figured that out.
😂

Kevin (the alpaca/llama) was quickly escorted back to the Berry Dairy petting zoo paddocks after his escape, we were not having another repeat incident like the recent cow break in.

Very exciting! 10,000 strawberry runners going in next weekend! 🍓 - our first batch! We will be planting 25,000 new plants in total over the next 6 weeks.

16/05/2026

Thank you so much to everyone who came not only over our Mother’s Day weekend, but throughout the whole season. After making over 300 scones in 2 days, I don’t think our kitchen team wants to see another batch of scones again anytime soon!

It’s definitely been a roller coaster this year! (Although I think I say that every season ). Mixing agriculture, horticulture, hospitality and tourism certainly keeps you on your toes!

We’re already very excited for next season. We’ll have brand new strawberry fields and we’re so excited about the new layout. The plants will be much easier to maintain, there’ll be less walking between rows with more strawberries in one area, and we’ll be moving to overhead irrigation instead of drip irrigation… meaning hopefully no more mystery leaks I can’t fix.

We’re also hoping to finally get our farm tours off the ground too. It’s been a bit of a work in progress navigating all the red tape, but we’re getting there! And we’ll also be bringing back Amazing Maize over January and February 🌽

We hope everyone has a wonderful winter. We’ll be back from October 1st, but we’ll still keep you updated over winter with our new strawberry field planting and a few spring updates from the dairy farm too 🐄

Thank you so much again - Nicole 🍓

Address

379 Mewburn Park Road
Maffra, VIC
3860

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 3pm
Thursday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+61499087799

Website

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