Sunday at 3:15 - 3 flats left and... CLOSED tomorrow - Monday 9/1

Hi all,

The good news – we have 3 flats left at the stand right now. The bad news – we’ll have to close tomorrow, Monday 9/1 since the berries were roasted in the heat. I don’t know what will happen for Wed. The plants are due to go in the ground….. will we have everything ready and still be able to harvest??? Keep checking your email. I guarantee things will change several times in the next 2 weeks!

Have a wonderful holiday!!

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Sat, 8/30 - OPEN at 12:15 about 20 days left of the season

Hey all,

Quick note since we haven’t been open on Saturday for a LONG time. I’ll bring berries in at 12:15. Come by as close to that time as you can since I don’t know how many I’ll have today and who will show up.

We have about 20 days of harvest left. That’s if I get the stand covered while we transplant and the field holds out. Can you believe the end of the season is almost upon us???

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Fri, 8/29 - Open at 12:15 comments on upcoming open days

Hi gang,

We’ll open at 12:15 today as usual. I don’t know how many have made it thru this heat and how long we’ll be open. If would really like berries, please come by close to the 12:15 opening. Take your berries home and get them cool. Your best bet us to enjoy them right away and don’t worry about keeping them!!

The berries are most certainly getting roasted right now. How many will make it – I don’t know. Some for sure. Those sitting on the black plastic will be history. How does that change my schedule for the stand?? We ALL will have to roll with the flow. I’ll open on Friday at 12:15. At that time I’ll see how many flats we bring in compared to the our last open day. Then I’ll scout the field and consider the projected temperatures. Then I make a decision about opening on Saturday. I would like to keep with my plan of opening on Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon BUT….. the number of flats we have available may not be there.

Simply put…. it’s a day by day thing right now. Keep checking my emails and I promise to keep everyone informed.

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Wed, 8/27 - Open at 12:15, more open days possible (fingers crossed)

Hi all,

For the regular stuff….. Open on Wed, 8/27 as usual at 12:15. I added Monday (yesterday) back in as one of our open days and it went really well. I hope the extra day made it easier for some of you to catch us. More berries in the field = more open days. The time that we close still varies based on customer response. Sunday we were open until 6PM, Monday we sold out just before 3:00. What will it be Wed ????

This is what I’m planning for the rest of the week:

Wed – open at 12:15
Thurs – closed
Fri – open at 12:15
Sat – OPEN at 12:15
Sun – open at 12:15
Mon – OPEN at 12:15 (subject to change based on qty of berries available)

I’m attempting to open for more days for 3 reasons – there are more berries in the field, it’s a holiday weekend, and we don’t know how many days we’ll be open the following week when we start transplanting and I know you need your berry fix. The above schedule is not set in stone. If the field runs out I’ll have no choice but to close on some of the days. Stay tuned.

Here’s the scoop on transplanting……. We’ll start next week (1st week of Sept). We won’t know what day until we get everything ready (plants unthawed, beds shaped, plastic, etc). If I have a crew to transplant and one to harvest I’ll keep the stand open. If not, the stand will close and we’ll focus on the important transplanting job. I will definitely keep you posted. Last year we closed for 10 days straight, then reopened for about 2 weeks.

We have about 18 more open days left gang!! That’s with an estimate of open days, transplanting, and the end of the season around Sept 26th. Anything can change!!


Cheers!
Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

3:15 on Sunday, 8/24 - We're still open now with 10 flats, OPEN MONDAY !!

Hi gang,

Just checked in with the stand. She has 10 flats and lookin’ good. Stop by and grab some. Our hours are definitely getting better sooo…. we’ll be open tomorrow – MONDAY 8/25 at 12:15. If the field holds up I’m going to try Thursday and Saturday this week as well. No promises yet (too early to tell), just a heads up for everyone.

Cheers!
Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Fri, 8/22 - Open at 12:15, recipes

Hi all,

It’s getting better out in the field. More blossoms and more berries coming in. The hours are getting better at the stand also. We’ll bring berries in at 12:15 and stay till we sell out. As always, come at 12:15 if you really need them. Wed we were open till 5PM so don’t right off your chance for berries later in the day. I’m checking the field today to see if we can open again on Mon or Sat. It all depends on what is ripening and how quickly we go thru the field.

Have you met the REAL Sally Strawberry??? Word has it she’ll be working at the stand today till 3:00 – Yeah – I’m puttin’ in my stand duty!!!

Spinach, Strawberry, Pecan Salad
1 lb. fresh spinach, washed & dried
1 pt. strawberries, washed & halved
1/2 c. pecan halves, toasted

Dressing:
1/3 c. raspberry vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable or olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. poppy seeds
Combine dressing ingredients except the poppy seeds in a blender. Add the poppy seeds by hand. Toss dressing with spinach, strawberries and hot pecans. The hot nuts will slightly wilt the greens.

Cheers!
Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Wed, 8/20 - OPEN

Hi gang!

Yipee – the kids go back to school today! Another change of routine for families with kiddos. We will open today at 12:15. It looks like we’ll stick with the W, F, Sn schedule for the rest of the season. Our hours will also stay the same. The only variable is our transplanting season – coming up in about 1 ½ - 2 weeks. If I get it worked out we may be able to keep the stand supplied with berries and transplant at the same time. More on that as we get closer. We have about 5 weeks left in the season (where did the time go???)

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Fri, 8/15 - OPEN at 12:15

Hi gang,

Same bat time, same bat channel! Come at 12:15 when we open if you absolutely need berries. Each day varies so much! We don’t know how many people will come and when we’ll run out. Wed was longer – till about 3:00. So here’s my 2 cents worth …… if you gotta have berries come at 12:15, you will probably snag some up until 1:00 on most days, BUT it’s worth zipping by later in the day if you’re over our way because we may still be open.

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Wed 8/13 - OPEN today 12:15

Almost forgot!!!! Yes, we’re open today as usual.

Our schedule this week….

Wed 8/13 OPEN 12:15 until sold out on all days

Fri 8/15 OPEN

Sun 8/17 OPEN


Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Friday, 8/8 - OPEN at 12:15, gate open at 12:00

Hi all,

I’ve relaxed a little and don’t feel like I have to rush over to open the gate at 11:30 every day. Amanda will open the gate at 12:00 when she arrives and I’ll drive in with berries in time for the 12:15 opening bell. We made it until around 2:30 on Wed – yippee!!

Update on Petaluma Bounty….. Amy is spread waaaay too thin and is unable to be at both our stand during the week and the Wed night market downtown, AND tend the farm. She is unable to return this year to our location and I totally understand. Sorry…. No more veggies. Seek her out on Wednesdays at the market!!!

Simple Strawberry Cobbler
4 c Sliced fresh Strawberries
1 c All purpose Flour
1/2 ts Baking Powder
1 c Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 c Butter or margarine
Whipped topping, or vanilla ice cream

Spread strawberries over bottom of greased 8 or 9" square baking pan. Stir together flour, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. Add egg, mix with fork until crumbly. Spread over berries. Dot with small pieces of butter or margarine. Bake at 375 deg F for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, topping, or ice cream. NOTE: 4 cups frozen unsweetened berry slices may be used instead of fresh.

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Wed, 8/6 - OPEN :)

Yes!!! We’re open today J The gate will open at 12:00 and I’ll have berries there at 12:15. You folks sure do pay attention to your emails!!! Monday, the day we’re not usually open, was jammed with berry fans and we sold at 12:50. I guess you do care about what I write LLOLOLLLO

We’ll be open on Friday 8/8 and Sunday 8/10. Next week we will be open Wed, Fri, Sun. If the harvest increases we’ll start to open on Mon. Not yet though.

I think Amy is coming on Sunday with produce. I’ll let you know for sure when I confirm.

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Monday, 8/4 - YES we're open on a Monday! 12:15 as usual

Quick note to keep everyone in the loop ----- I’ll be there at 12:15 today with berries. Monday is not our usual open day but…. I had to swap yesterday for today. All the kiddos are home, cows are happy and the fair season has ended. Whew!!!

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms

Sunday, 8/3 - CLOSED but..... OPEN Monday 8/4 instead

Hi gang,

All my help has ditched me :-) LOLOLOL Annie is away for a month and the girls are wrapping up last minute college and before school stuff. Since little ole me will be at the fair with my kids and their 4-H/FFA projects on Sunday, there’s no one to mind the store! Sunday is the big awards day, gather and move out, haul 2 loads of cows, 1 trailer and a tired kid home, etc.

We’ll be open on Monday instead. Remember ….. don’t come to the stand on Sunday 8/3, come on MONDAY :-) The berries are still trickling in so it looks like I’ll stick to this schedule next week:

Mon 8/4 OPEN

Wed 8/6 OPEN

Fri 8/8 OPEN

Sun 8/10 OPEN

If the harvest quantity comes up over this next week we’ll add Monday back in as a sale day the following week.

Do you know I have about 1 month until TRANSPLANTING AGAIN!!! We have about 7 harvest weeks left. I can’t believe how the year flew by. We’ll pick up 47 thousand plants around Labor Day and spend 10 days getting them tucked in the ground. It’s very time consuming (10 – 12 hours a day) and demanding. These plants come to us frozen in boxes. They have a very limited shelf life and must be transplanted immediately. After the plants are in, we make sure they have the correct amount of moisture and fertilizer for optimum growth, lay straw between the rows for mulch, pull weeds around each plant by hand, pluck off every single runner and blossom until the plants go dormant, release beneficial insects AND pull up all of the old plants/plastic and plant a cover crop. Whew!!!

Then…. we rest

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms