Wintering Berries

Putting Brambles to Bed

During the harsh Midwest winter months, it’s important that just as we cover perennials or garden vegetables, we protect our berry plants. The crew at Colonial Farms is diligent about selecting the opportune time to get the berry plants in our bramble patch covered.

The berries at Colonial were bred in Clarksville, Arkansas where it only gets below 10 degrees one night every few years. In the Kansas City area, it gets much colder even though they were bred 4 hours south of Blue Springs.

If it gets below 10 degrees, the risk of freezing your precious fruit buds right off the cane is crucial. While it may not kill the fruit buds, we don’t want to take those chances! Colonial wants to ensure we have a fruitful and healthy patch for U-Pick during berry pickin’ seasons.

Getting to Work

Materials Used

Cloth and rocks/ stones, it’s that simple!

The Process

When the temperature drops below 10 degrees for a consecutive week, it’s time to cover.

The covers are put over the berries a week before the hard freeze and will stay on until early-March or when it feels safe to take them off.

In 2020, the covers were put on in mid-December and stayed on until late February. This year, with the milder weather, we didn’t cover the berries until just this week (February 2) and will come off in a month if the weather warms up like it’s supposed to.

Producing the Best Quality Produce

It’s true that we are overly passionate and dedicated to the plants and produce we serve our customers. The time and effort we take to go the extra mile or do the “not so easy stuff”, is just bettering the quality of U-Pick produce and your experience at Colonial.

If you’re interested in learning more about our practices for your own farm or berry patch, we’d love to help you out! Come talk to one of our experts.