 "Photo: Carson Werner/The Daily Texan")
 "Photo: Carson Werner/The Daily Texan")
Last Saturday, with thoughts of jam and cobbler in my mind, I drove an hour west in search of something more organic than the city could provide. Tucked away in the Hill Country is a mini-oasis called Sweet Berry Farm, where determined visitors are invited to pick their own produce from rows of fruits and vegetables waiting to be unearthed.
Owners Gretchen and Dan Copeland opened the farm in Marble Falls with altruistic intentions: They wanted to share the joy of agriculture with other families.
“At some point, coming to the farm will touch some memory you have had in the past,” Gretchen said. “I think that is what all of us look for: those special little memories to relive.”
In the spring and fall, the farm yields a variety of fruits and vegetables for guests to pick
themselves, including potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries and blackberries. In the fall, there are pumpkins and gourds. In addition to strawberries thriving in the Texas weather, Gretchen said they grow the fruit because it is a romantic crop mentioned often in literature.
As romantic as the fruit may be, there is labor involved.
Upon my arrival, I was greeted by an elderly gentlemen wearing a straw hat and overalls who handed me one large, purple-and-red-stained leather glove and a cardboard box.
Then, I was waved into the field, certain to find a succulent stash.
It soon became apparent what the massive glove is for: the blackberry bushes. Piled high on posts, the berries are immersed in a tangle of thorns.
The strawberries are low to the ground, hidden under large leaves. After you find them, crawling on your hands and knees, you discover how much smaller they are than what the grocery store provides. But the flavor packed in the tiny berries is incomparable. The price is pretty close to those at a grocery store, too. Two pounds of berries set me back about $5.
“How many opportunities do you have to pick berries and not buy them at the grocery store?” said Lisa Wallace, a guest at the farm visiting from San Angelo with her family. “It’s not only a fun activity but you get to go home with a bonus; you feel like you accomplished something.”
Slowing down from the hustle of the city and taking a moment to appreciate the sweat rolling off your face as you dig in the dirt for the brightest of berries is what Sweet Berry Farm is all about.
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