Customers flock to farm stands for fresh strawberries

Jun. 24—EAU CLAIRE — Drivers may want to use extra caution while navigating city streets for the next couple of weeks.

This alert is not prompted by construction or an influx of deer, but by other drivers on the hunt for farm stands selling fresh strawberries.

It's a short season, and local residents will go to great lengths to find locally grown berries.

Just Thursday morning, several motorists were spotted changing lanes abruptly and turning after spotting a strawberry stand on the southeast corner of Highland Avenue and Hastings Way.

The stand, operated by Stanley Strawberries of Humbird, had sold two-thirds of its allotment of 240 quarts by 10:30 a.m. — only an hour after setting up shop for the day, vendor Ryan Johnson said while serving a steady stream of customers.

"People must be berry hungry this year," a grinning Johnson said, repeating a standing joke.

Customers Gene and Marilynn Lokken said they always seek out local strawberries during the season, which typically runs from mid-June to early July. They bought a quart and said they plan to return soon for more.

"You can buy them in the grocery store all year long, but they don't have the flavor of the berries freshly grown in Wisconsin," Marilynn Lokken said.

Berlye Middleton of Eau Claire tasted a berry before buying.

"They're good," he declared with a smile before buying some of bright red fruit for the road.

"I usually try to stop when I see a stand," Middleton said. "The strawberries in the stores are not as sweet, and it's good business to help out local farmers."

Another customer, who declined to reveal his name, said he had been driving around town for an hour trying to find someone selling fresh strawberries and was excited to see the temporary signs promoting the Stanley Strawberries stand. He drove his truck right up to the stand, and Johnson delivered several quarts right to his window.

Jack Stanley, the third-generation owner of Stanley Strawberries, said demand for the berries is high as usual this year.

"Our phone rings off the hook, and I'm not kidding," said Stanley, who offers a pick-your-own option at his 6.5-acre strawberry plot near Humbird as well as selling prepicked berries at stands across west-central Wisconsin.

It's the same story at Govin's Farms east of Menomonie, where owner John Govin said strawberry seekers start calling before Memorial Day every year wondering when the new crop will be ready for harvest.

"People love fresh, local strawberries," Govin said.

Both growers said 2022 picking started Monday, with Govin adding that the season typically lasts 17 to 21 days but varies from farm to farm.

"At this point, it's all about the weather," Govin said. "A lot can happen between now and the Fourth of July."

The Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market reported on Facebook that vendors offered strawberries last Saturday for the first time this year.

Stanley, whose grandfather started the family's strawberry-growing operation shortly after World War II, said the farm is fortunate to have an irrigation available for its berries. That helps the business navigate droughts and spring frost threats.

"We had to irrigate 18 times last year to save the crop," Stanley said, recalling that the result was an average crop in 2021.

By contrast, Govin reported experiencing "probably the worst season we've had" last year, when his six-acre strawberry patch produced about 30% of its average yield over the past 20 years of operation.

Govin is pleased to report that this year's crop appears to be better, but not great, which he attributed to a few too many hot days at a critical point in the growth cycle.

"The fruit is bigger this year," he said. "The quality is really good, but I don't think the yield will be quite what we hoped. I think it will be an OK year."

Govin's also offers pick-your-own and prepicked options at the farm and at a stand near the Cenex service station in north Menomonie. He isn't sure the farm will produce enough berries to supply an additional stand in Eau Claire.

Stanley said his berries apear to be slightly smaller than usual this year, likely in part because they're from a relatively old strawberry bed, which he plans to plow under after this season.

In 2023, he will debut strawberries from a new five-acre plot he planted just north of Humbird, continuing a family tradition of more than 70 years.