Indiana’s fruit and vegetable operations plan new events and crops for 2023
May 1, 2023 by Kathleen M. Dutro, INFB Marketing Team
Innovation is the name of the game when it comes to some of the state’s produce farms, orchards and U-pick operations.
New crops, new attractions and new events are all in the planning stages, representatives of five farms said in interviews this spring.
At Waterman’s in Marion County, the season begins with strawberries, said Carol Waterman.
“Last year we opened May 22,” she said, adding that they won’t know for a few weeks when this year’s opening day will be. After that will be sweet corn (planned for July 4) as well as green beans, tomatoes, peppers, mustard and turnip greens, and cantaloupe. The growing season closes out with pumpkins.
"Everything is U-pick except corn and cantaloupes,” Waterman added.
New this year, Waterman's will be offering flowers, including zinnias, sunflowers and wildflowers.
“Last year was a good year for us – fall was particularly good because rain didn’t come on the weekends,” Waterman said, adding that the family is keeping its fingers crossed that the same thing happens this year.
Thanks to the weather and consumer preferences, things are looking good at Spencer Farms in Hamilton County.
“U-pick is getting more popular all the time,” said Kyle Spencer. Spencer Farms offers strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, pumpkins, sunflowers, table grapes and wine grapes. Its newest major venture is a winery, which opened in 2019.
So far, this year is looking very strong, he added.
“But of course we have a long way to go,” he said. “It could change quickly – we could have nights when we’re up all night watching thermometers.”
For those cold nights, Spencer Farms has installed a sprinkler system consisting of 167 sprinklers. According to Purdue University, the sprinklers encase the plants in ice, which insulates them so long as the ice remains wet and the temperatures don't drop too low.
“We have saved the strawberry crop at 17 degrees,” Spencer said.
While nothing particularly new is planned for the farm itself, many events are planned for Spencer Farm Winery, Spencer said. Currently scheduled is live music every Friday and Saturday night (weather permitting), which began in April, and the Strawberry Music Festival on Saturday, May 27.
Several events also are in the planning stages for Johnson’s Farm Produce in Lake County. According to Jennifer Johnson, the farm features a full garden center, 25 to 30 acres of strawberries as well as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, vegetables “from A to Z,” watermelons and pumpkins.
Some sort of event is planned for virtually every weekend June through October, including strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, watermelon, sunflower and pumpkin festivals.
New for 2023 will be an evening event, probably when the sunflowers are in bloom, that will include wine and hors d’oeuvres with photo ops for families in the sunflower field, Johnson said.
Cornucopia Farm in Washington County, which is operated by the Baird family, is planning for its corn and soybean crops, but beyond that, the Bairds are looking ahead to June when they’ll start going to farmers markets with tomatoes.
Next will come sweet corn, and after that will come mums, squash, gourds and other fall produce.
“We plant close to 8,000 mums,” said Linda Baird.
Petunias are new to Cornucopia this year, Baird said, and they are being grown in a "low tunnel," which is a kind of simplified greenhouse. The plan is to have them ready for sale before Mother’s Day.
A major focus at Cornucopia Farm is fall activities, including pumpkins, a petting farm and corn and soybean mazes.
“We’re probably going to have some new things for agritourism this fall,” Baird added.
While the Beiersdorfer family, which owns and operates Beiersdorfer Orchard in Dearborn County, focuses most of its attention on its 11 different varieties of apples as well as peaches, plums and pears, they also grow some vegetables, particularly asparagus and rhubarb, said Hilda Beiersdorfer.
So far this spring, cold weather and high winds have hurt some of the peaches and plums, and maybe some of the early apples, Beiersdorfer said, noting that at one point this spring, the farm experienced a full week of temperatures of 26 to 28 degrees.
“I do think we are hurt a little more than we expect to be, but it’s very hard to say,” she said.
“Aside from the early apples, the rest are looking pretty good,” she added.
For lists of other member-owned farm markets, orchards and U-pick operations, visit www.infb.org/buylocal. If you would like your farm listed in one of INFB’s directories, write to Kathleen Dutro, kdutro@infb.org.
