Open Daily 10:00 am
until Sold out

Pre-Picked begins Wednesday, May 21st,
Opening day for Pick-Your-Own begins Saturday, May 24th
and continues until Father’s Day.

The 2008 Strawberry Harvest Festival is here!

In response to last year’s over whelming demand for “The Best Strawberries in Bucks County“ we have increased production.

PRE-PICKED berries will be available at our Farm Market, beginning on Wednesday, May 21st. The Market will be open daily at 10:00 am until we are sold out.

PICK–YOUR–OWN will ONLY be permitted on Saturday and Sundays beginning on Saturday May 24th until Father’s Day.
(Please call 215-766-8388 for Up–to–Date Strawberry Harvest Festival information.)

The Buck's County Heritage Iris Collection

We have noticed, as our older generation and neighbors are passing on their properties, that as a result of the renovation process, many of the old-fashioned, die hard iris varieties are being destroyed.

So, for the past several years, our family has been visiting “older” gardening friends and farm families in Bucks County to acquire clumps of these tough old beauties before they are lost. These tough, nameless, old beauties have stood the test of time enduring insects, disease drought and general neglect.

Many friends have contributed their irises to the Collection here on the farm. We would like to acknowledge the Lear Family for contributing over 10 varieties. (These are extra special iris as they were in the garden that the Village of Gardenville was named after!)

We are honored to hold this collection, and it is during the strawberry picking season when you can come to the farm and see the beauty of the irises in bloom. At this time we are not offering plants for sale but we hope to in the future.

Seeking More Old Iris for the Buck’s County Heritage Iris Collection:

If you are a Bucks County resident and have irises that have been at your home or office “for generations” or “as long as you can remember” we’d like to get a clump from you to add to the collection. (If interested, we’d love to have either: at least one big clump or, ten plants.)

We never pay for irises added to the collection and in keeping with an old Pennsylvania Dutch Custom, we can’t say “Thank You”. (If you say Thank you, when you receive a gift plant the custom states, the plant will not grow!) It’s worked for 6 generations and we’re not going to mess with custom.

Help Wanted: Strawberry Pickers

Looking for an opportunity to work outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air and get to snack on strawberries?
We are seeking 10 to 15 individuals daily from 8:00 am until around 12 noon.

We have found that Strawberry Picking is an ideal job for stay at home parents (drop the kids off and then come pick) and for college students who want to earn extra money before they start working at their summer job.

Interested??  Call 215-766-8388 and leave your name and phone number.

What’s New?

For the past 30 years the family has grown strawberries using the traditional matted row system. The matted row system is great and has served the farm well but is extremely labor intensive when it comes to hand planting, hand weed control, mulching and crop management. Last year we plowed under our last three acres of matted row strawberries and have converted to a new growing technique called the Raised Bed System.

The Raised Bed System is still extremely labor intensive. Unfortunately, each of the thousands of plants are still planted by hand and instead of mulching the entire field with straw we now cover the entire field with a big white blanket for winter protection. We also needed to install an electric fence around the field so the deer would not eat the plants. On the positive side, weed control and irrigation of the crop are much simplified. Also, because the strawberries are planted on raised soil beds, strawberry picking will be much easier; the fruit will be cleaner and much larger!

Because the plants are growing on raised beds, the soil will warm up earlier which means the plants grow and bloom sooner. With this in mind, we are expecting strawberry harvest to begin in mid-May (This is 3 to 4 weeks earlier than usual) instead of our regular starting date of Memorial Day. We are still learning about this Raised Bed System but we’re sure you will like these new changes especially, not having to bend quite as far to pick the berries!

Please forward our web address, www.hellericksfarm.com
to a friend, neighbor or co-worker who would enjoy knowing about the farm.