Carandale Fruit Farm

08/28/2026

Organic Aronia Berry Season is upon us! We just harvested about 11k pounds of these Amazing little Super Berries... and this year their sugar content is higher than normal so they are really good for fresh eating... and they hold up to 3.5 times the Antioxidants of Blueberries - just in time for the beginning of the school year to keep our kiddos happy and healthy.

They will be available in many of our local Madison Grocery stores starting Tuesday Sept 1st forward - Please ask for them by name.
Stores will include W***y St Coops (East, West, North), Brennans Market, Woodman's (East, West, Sun prairie), Metcalfes (Hilldale, West), Hyvee (Oregon, Westgate, Fitchburg, East), Miller and Sons (Verona, Mt Horeb), and Vitruvian Farm.

We will be doing a few days of on-farm bulk sales for those of you (like me) who want to freeze a bunch for the year. Bulk sales will be 5 pounds or more and cost $5 per pound. Our first day for on the farm Bulk Sales will be this coming Wednesday September 2nd from 10am - 4pm located at the Lincoln Rd red shed (same place we sell pre-picked strawberries in June)... best address is 5683 Lincoln Rd - sales will be at the Red Shed.

We will also plan to be at the Dane County Farmers Market on the Square on Saturday September 5th.

We are excited to get these Superfruits out to our community and look forward to seeing you and your families soon.

Good Health starts at the Farm - Natures 'Farmacy'

08/21/2026

Organic Aronia Season is here!! We plan to harvest today thru the weekend and will post when and where they will be available.

The tast this season is awesome with sugar content (BRIX) as high as 17+ WOW!!

Aronia is a SUPER FRUIT with antioxidant levels up to 3.5 times that of blueberries... but are tart not sweet. The tart is neutralized when mixed with proteins such as yogurt, milk, or meat.

We eat them fresh and freeze them for smoothies and baking throughout the year.

08/01/2026

Did you ever wonder What we do with our Strawberry Fields After Strawberry Season?

Well, that's when the real work begins. We spend Hours, Days, Weeks in the fields doing 'Renovations' to the patch. Strawberries are finicky and difficult to grow, and overwinter, so we must very diligently and carefully work on every single row to ensure next years harvest will be fruitful and healthy... and that begins right after this year harvest is over.

1. We take Soil and Leaf samples and send to a lab for nutritional uptake and availability... then use that information to fertilize the fields with exactly what they need. So we balance what's available in the soil with what the plant is actually taking up... its Chemistry at its finest.

2. We then Mow all the leaves to remove any disease and give the new growth the best chance for a healthy start.

3. Then we do what's called Subsoiling, in which we dig deep between the rows with 'shoes' at the bottom that lifts the soil upward essentially breaking and loosening the soil around the roots. This removes the compaction that allows water pe*******on and healthy root growth the occur.

4. We then us a 2 row rototiller to carefully work the soil about 4-5" deep and trim the rows from this years growth back down a ~8" row width. One bad turn or hillside slide and we could damage the plants - so this is done very methodically and with great intention.

5. We then spray a pre-emergent to reduce w**d seed germination in newly rototilled soil and we water it in immediately to a depth of 1"+

6.. We then take the information from the soil/leaf analysis and we add fertilizer and micro-nutrients to boost the plant vigor and fruit set for the next year. This usually occurs in two applications; first one is mid-August and the second early September.

7. Then its w**ding, Weeding, w**ding, and more w**ding.

8. Around Thanksgiving we put straw on each row - 1 row at a time to a depth between 6-8 inches thick to protect the next years fruit sets from the cold Wisconsin Winters. Of course, we have not done that yet this year.

We hope you enjoy these short videos showing each stage of our renovations. I added music so you may want to adjust your volume setting :)

Aronia Berries are looking good this year - Mid August Harvest... we will let you know when they are available.

The Concord and Fredonia Grapes will be available in Early September - we will let you know when and where they will be available.

Thank you for your support and friendship.... Hope you enjoy the videos and if you have any questions please reach out.

07/09/2026

If u haven't tried it yet i suggest u better get some while its still on tap... and if u have tried it i reccomend getting some more before this very popular seasonal brew is gone. Grab a Growler and share it with some sweet friends 🍓🍺

🍓 Summer in a glass is back. Brewed with fresh strawberries from Carandale Fruit Farm, our Strawberry Tart returns with bright fruit flavor, refreshing tartness, and everything you need for a warm Wisconsin day.

06/30/2026

The 2026 Strawberry Season has come to a Steamy End. The weather preceding season has been some of the most challenging I have encountered, from the heavy Spring Frosts, Immense Pre-June Heat, to the torrential downpours, and back to Heat Index’s over 100degrees and more rain just before season opened.

We grow different Varieties of Strawberries that generally ripen from early to late season which creates a ~3+week season, but this year we had a mass ripening creating a shorter season… it may have been short but it was Certainly SWEET!!

All that being said, we had the best Strawberry Season we could have had given all the obstacles, and that’s because of our Amazing Staff and the Support and Friendship of our Awesome Community.

We are so Thankful to be part of so many Family Traditions and we absolutely love seeing so many families spending quality time on the Farm and ‘Picking Some Sweet Memories’ together.

We THANK you for Supporting our Generational Family Farm of 57years. It has been an amazing experience and honor running Carandale Farm for the past 10years, and the lessons I have learned in Patience, Acceptance, and Humility have reshaped my very outlook on what’s important in life. The Support of our community and friends, and seeing so many families finding joy and connection at Carandale Farm fills our hearts beyond compare.

The Next Fruit Crops will be our Organic Aronia Berries (Late August)… this little berry packs up to 3.5 times the antioxidants that of blueberries and is a Native to Wisconsin. It looks like a blueberry but eaten fresh tastes like a sip of red wine. It freezes great, and is good for baking into muffins, on ice-cream/cereal, mixed with applesauce, and put into smoothies. Protein such as Diary and Meat will neutralize the powerful tannin taste leaving only the Nutritional powerhouse that is Aronia Berries.

Then in Early September we will have or Amazing Fredonia and Concord Grapes available… we have been growing these Grapes since the inception of the farm making most of them around 56+years old canes. You can taste the classic Concord Grape Flavor that will bring back memories of what once was… These are also packed full of antioxidants and when juiced and canned will last up to 2+ years on the shelf.

Please continue to monitor our Social Media and we will give updates to when the Aronia and Grapes will be available, and where you can find them.

Below are just a few of the photos from the 2026 season - what great memories :)

With Respect and Appreciation,
Cory Secher and The Carandale Family

06/28/2026

We will be OPEN for Pick-Your-Own Strawberries Monday June 29th from 7am - 12noon for a 'Beat the Heat Berry Blowout'... Picking will be located at the Lincoln Road Location (5683 Lincoln Rd) - Parking is at the Red Shed; please don't park along the driveway.
Pick-Your-Own Strawberries cost $2.90 per pound, Or you can purchase by Volume at check-in for $40 for a Big Box or $20 for a Medium box. We only accept Cash or Checks.

After assessing all our Strawberry Fields and letting them rest and ripen over the weekend, I have decided that we still have some fairly decent Picking available with a mix of small, medium, and Large Berries... as well as many over ripe berries. These fields are generally our picking crew fields.. but rate of picking (not quality) was too low to continue picking.

So I hope to see you Monday morning for the 'Beat the Heat Berry Blowout!' and get some of the LAST of the Taste of summer! And being toward the end of season expect to be 'Lifting and Looking' at every berry cluster - 3 of 5 are probably very yummy berries.

We will be CLOSED for Pre-Picked Strawberries on Monday June 29th.

06/27/2026

We will be CLOSED on Saturday (6/27/26) and Sunday (6/28/26) for both Pick-Your-Own and Pre-Picked Strawberries. I will do another Daily Update on Sunday to let you know if/when more strawberries will be available.

Thank you for such a great turn out today, and we hope you had as much Fun on the Farm as we did.

06/26/2026

We are OPEN for Pick-Your-Own Strawberries from 4pm - 8pm tonight Friday June 26th, and the weather couldn't be more Amazing! The Berries are smaller and its more of a scavenger hunt but there are a lot of great berries just waiting for you to find them - cost only $2.90 per pound.

We just SOLD OUT of Pre-Picked strawberries as of 7:20pm.

So come on out to Carandale Strawberry Farm and enjoy one of the last days of Strawberry season, enjoy the ambiance of the Patch on this beautiful evening.

Hope to see you this evening

06/26/2026

For those of you who had to work during the day today (Friday June 26th), we will be OPEN for a BONUS PICK-YOUR-OWN this evening from 4pm - 8pm for only $2.90 per pound. We will also have a BONUS of PRE-PICKED Strawberries available tonight at the Tipperary road location - only 160 quarts of Unsorted Strawberries available for only $6.50/quart - First Come First Served.

The Picking is Slower and the berries are smaller, but they are Bursting with Robust Strawberry Flavor!! We are finding a lot of Great Berries out in the Patch, so we hope you come out tonight for what might be the last of the season picking.

The Pictures below are from today so you can see what is still out in the fields... so come on out Carandale Farm this evening and 'Pick Some Sweet Memories' with your friends and family.

We accept Cash and Checks only, sorry no credit cards or Venmo.

We hope to see you this evening for some more Fun on the Farm before the 2026 strawberry season comes to a close.

06/26/2026

Its a GREAT DAY to be in the Strawberry Patch at Carandale Farm. Plenty of red ripe Strawberries, the birds are singing, the temp is great with a light breeze (no bugs) and our Amazing Staff are all in Hawaiian Shirts and out in the fields ready to meet you and share their favorite Strawberry.

The berries are smaller and it will take a little more time to pick but WOW we are finding A LOT of Great Berries out there.

We will be picking any/all varieties so talk to anyone in a Hawaiian shirt and they will share their favorite berry and point you in the right direction to try them all...

We look Berry forward to seeing you.