Appleland’s strawberry business saved by the soil

Torrential rains and hot days may have jeopardized other strawberry crops in Wisconsin, but Appleland Farm Market in the Town of Fredonia is having a great harvest.

“The fruit is definitely plentiful this year,” Jake Bares, grandson of founders George and Kaye Espantman, said.

Usually, Bares said, weather like this year’s would damage strawberries.

“We had a lot of rain this spring. Usually you get rot and mold with that much rain,” he said. “Strawberries like water, but they don’t like sitting in it.”

However, the strawberries at Appleland are strategically planted in loam soil and well-draining areas, which mitigated the negative weather effects, Bares said.

“With where our strawberries are located, we had a lot of drainage,” he said, adding they avoid planting in low-lying areas where spring frosts can kill young fruits.

The recent heat has “pushed” the ripeness of the strawberries, Bares said, which he hopes will all be picked over the next two weeks.

“It’s peak season,” he said. “There’s a lot of ripe fruit.”

To avoid the cost and uncertainty of pre-picked strawberries, Appleland only offers you-pick, Bares said.

“It’s tough to know how many to pick with how short the shelf life is,” he said.

Appleland grows six different varieties of strawberries for early, late and mid- season, Bares said, noting that spreads Appleland’s risk and allows for a longer picking season.

Bares said he believes Appleland is the only customer-picked strawberry farm in Ozaukee County.

Its only Appleland’s second strawberry harvest in recent years, Bares said.

About a decade ago, Appleland stopped its berry-growing operation because of difficulties finding seasonal employees.

However, the closing of growers like Walvoord’s Berry Farm in Cedar Grove grew demand, Bares said, inspiring Appleland to plant 2 1/2 acres of berries two years ago.

The first harvest saw lots of excited customers, but the growing season was hampered by extremely hot, dry weather last year, Bares said.

This year, Appleland has expanded to five acres.

While the fruit this year is great, Bares said, it’s still “up in the air” whether they will get enough customers to clear the fields.

With four seasonal employees and lots of family members helping, Bares said, staffing is not currently an issue.

The fields are open from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily while there are ripe strawberries available to pick, Bares said.

At the Farm Market, Appleland sells products such as apples fritters, doughnuts, slushees, honey and syrup.

“Our main bread and butter has been apples,” Bares said, referring to Appleland’s extensive apple wholesale operations.

Wholesale apples, Bares said, are picked by a harvest crew.

The market offers both you-pick and pre-picked apples and pumpkins during their seasons.

Founded in 1966, Appleland has a 130-acre orchard in Belgium where the family grows not just apples but pears, plums, pumpkins and squash.

The market opened in 2009.