NOBLEFORD, Alta. — Don’t look for Tim and Brenda Vrieselaars’ strawberry plants in the usual place, on the ground.
The owners of Noble Gardens grow their crop in raised troughs about a metre up.
This growing arrangement limits weed pressure, allows more precise watering and protects the plants from light frost, Tim Vrieselaar said Aug. 16 during a fruit and vegetable field day organized by Alberta Agriculture and Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association.
It makes the berries easier to pick.
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Vrieselaar tested the frost theory on the night of Aug. 15, when the farm recorded its first sub-zero temperatures of the season. Mist sprayers protected the plants from frost damage, as did the height of the troughs.
Vrieselaar replaces his strawberries every year, transplanting young plants into new soil comprising peat moss and sawdust. This year, he has 20,000 Seascape plants, a day neutral variety, growing in about a dozen 60 metre raised rows. The plants are watered and fertilized daily.
Picking requires about an hour per row, using his own and hired local labour. He does not offer a U-pick option, instead selling the fruit in Calgary farmers’ markets.
Vrieselaar said the strawberry crop was poor this year because of the cold, wet spring. Berries were plentiful but small, so he didn’t harvest the desired amount.
Noble Gardens also operates a community shared agriculture program (CSA) that has 170 members this year, all of them in the Calgary and Canmore areas.
It’s the Vrieselaars’ second year operating a CSA. They got their feet wet last year with 10 clients, and interest was great when they offered it to a wider field this year.
“It was obviously very popular,” Vrieselaar said.
He offers half and full shares, a full share being enough food for a family of four for a week. Half-shares are more popular, and most members are older couples or young families.
Baskets of available fruit and vegetables are delivered weekly to central points, where members pick them up.
Members pay up front on the expectation that Noble Gardens will provide them with weekly baskets for about 16 weeks starting in July.
“They basically are putting their money on the line. They get what’s available during the summer.”
The Vrieselaars don’t guarantee a certain amount of food because availability will depend upon the weather and Mother Nature. Members pay them in March so they know how much to plant.
He said this year was challenging because they started planting in April and couldn’t get back into the garden until mid-May due to wet weather.
“People got some pretty small baskets at first,” he said, but members have praised the produce quality.
“I hope they will stick with us more than one year, especially after this year.”
