07/26/2026
This season was one for the record books, and not in the way farmers hope for. This year brought challenge, after challenge, after challenge. The deeply cold winter took 100% of the peaches, plums, and nectarines. Those same, bitter cold nights, also took 70% of the blueberry crop. An extremely cold spring brought weeks of sleepless nights performing frost control measures to save the strawberries. Then came the lingering cold and rain of May that slowed berry growth and kept the farmers from the fields when we desperately needed to be in them. Just when we thought Mother Nature had finally made up her mind, she flipped the switch to intense heat. Those sweltering days rushed the berries along, only to turn around and send us back into another stretch of cold. Now as we are all currently experiencing desert heat and drought, with grass that resembles sand, we are checking the forecast every hour praying for rain
For those that don't grow food, it may be hard to imagine just how much, weather influences every single berry, every single piece of produce, that makes it to your table. This wasn't an ideal growing season, and truthfully, many of us farmers found ourselves harvesting crops that didn't always meet the standards we set for ourselves, but it was the best Mother Nature allowed at the time.
With all that behind us, let's get back to the positive that our family at Bird Berry Farm always try to bring. We are now closed for the season, and would like to thank each and every person that took their time to support local farming! You all are what makes this hard work worth it! Being able to watch the smiles, although sometimes being a giveaway that some should have been weighed before entering the field😆, makes it all possible. The generations showing up to make memories together, pass down traditions, and teach preserving skills is what we enjoy witnessing the best. As we continue to work throughout this fall and winter, we wish you all the best, enjoy your hard work of harvest, and we will see you in the spring for Strawberries 2027❤️
