Saturday, 9/20 - THE VERY LAST DAY

Hi gang,

Yesterday was unbelievable!!! I opened at 12:15 and sold out at 12:30!!! Last minute berry fixes before we take our winter slumber time off I assume??? :-) Today is your very last chance to enjoy our strawberries until next April. We will open at 12:15 and close when sold out or 2:00, whichever comes first. It’s time to pack everything up and shut ‘er down!!! Stop by for our very last visit of the season :-)

Thank you for being such wonderful customers and supporting your silly local strawberry queen.

See you next year!

Friday, 9/19 - OPEN at 12:15 till 2:00

Hi all,

Yesterday we sold out at 12:55! We had quite a few more flats but folks were stocking up for jams and freezing. Smart thinking :-) I’ll be there today at 12:15 and stay open until 2:00 (if we still have berries). It’s anybody’s guess how quickly we’ll sell out. If you want them for sure….. stop by around 12:15/12:30.

IF we don’t finish the field today I’ll be open for our final, last day tomorrow, Saturday 9/20. I’m 99.9% sure we’ll be there but…. anything can change when I get to the field at this late date in the season.

Thursday, 9/18 - Ooops, forgot the time in my last message

Silly me….. I keep forgetting to include the time I’ll be open. Today, Thursday, we’ll open at 12:15 and stay until 2:00 or when sold out. Yesterday we made it until 2:00.

Friday I’ll come in at 12:15 as well and stay till 3:00 if we still have berries.

Friday COULD be our last day. I’ll find out today when I see how far we’ve gotten thru the field at noon.

The berries are coming in really soft and quite juicy. Could be good if you’re eating them right away or freezing. Not so good if you intend to keep them for a few days. I took some home yesterday and noticed some were soft but I find that happens every year at this time. They just can’t hold up and many of them are on the small side. The poor plants have just about run out of steam for the year.

I’m getting that Fall clean up feeling and am soooo ready to put the old berry patch to bed. We need to strip the tops of the beds of plants, lift and pull plastic, disc and prep the field, and sow a cover crop. We can’t let Ma Nature sneak in some rain on the Adobe!

Thursday, 9/18 - the final days are here :(

Hi gang,

I’ve made an executive decision…… we’ll be open Thursday, 9/18 and Friday, 9/19. If the field is not picked clean on Friday, we will open for our FINAL day on Saturday. So….. it’s either Friday or Saturday as our last day of the season. We have plenty of chores to tend to after closing and much to keep us busy. The new transplants are looking really good! My concern at this time is with gophers. Everyone who wants a great crop next year could help by sending a personal message to the gopher keep away angels to help protect those strawberry babies!!! LOLOL

TUESDAY, 9/16 - YES TUESDAY special open day

Hi all,

Oh yeah, you read it correctly ----- I’m going to open on Tuesday, the day I’m never open. Why??? We finished transplanting today at 1:00, we’ve been closed for 10 days, we need a break on Monday, the field will have berries to pick AND you’ve been without berries for 10 days! And maybe, just maybe, I want to see how many of you really do read these silly memos I create J

I’ll open on:

Tuesday, 9/16

Wednesday, 9/17

If the berries and field look good we’ll harvest again on:

Friday 9/19

Saturday 9/20

We’ll be closed on:

Monday 9/15

Thursday 9/18

Sunday 9/21

It’s getting down to the last bit of the season now so anything can change. We’ll take it day by day. The above schedule is what I would like it to be. Ma Nature holds the cards.

Wed, 9/10 - CLOSED for transplanting

Hi all,

Transplanting has been going well. We decided to stick with it and stay focused. At this rate, we should finish on Saturday or mid Sunday. I doubt we will be open on Sunday, 9/13. We will be closed all days up until and thru 9/13 unless you get a message from me.

We’ve finished about ½ of the field or 20 thousand plants. The new soil is a challenge, an adventure and something we’ve never worked with before. We were raised on adobe soil so sandy loam is completely different.

Friday, 9/5 - CLOSED for transplanting

Hi all,

Today, Thursday, is the first day of transplanting for us. We will be closed tomorrow, Friday to stay with it. The next day we will consider opening is Sunday. It’s entirely possible that we’ll be closed for most or all of our transplanting time, which would be about 10 days. With the heat and the small amount of berries out there, our priority is the new transplants. After transplanting is complete, we may have about 6 open days left. Where did the time go??

Wed, 9/3 - Open from 12:15 to 1:30 only getting ready for transplanting, days and hours will change

Hi gang,

I’m going to have a small window of open time today due to the transplanting jobs I need to get done. Our plants are arriving today, they need to be unloaded and unthawed, prepped in tubs and ready for 6AM tomorrow. It will take me awhile since I’m dealing with thousands of plants. So please stop by, grab your berries between 12:15 and 1:30 and get them to your cool homes. As of today I don’t know if we’ll be open on Friday, 9/5. It’s possible we’ll be closed. Get your berries while you can. We estimate about 10 sale days left.

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry
Carstensen Farms