We are now open for the season!
We close over winter every year, but this year we’ve probably changed more than we ever have before reopening.
We’ve planted 25,000 new strawberry plants, completely changed how our strawberry fields are set up, added our new Dairy Farm Tractor Tours, expanded the dog park, added new playground equipment and done a heap of work around the whole place.
A lot has changed, so with reopening on 28 September getting very close, here’s what you can expect this season.
The strawberries have been one of our biggest projects this winter.
Our last strawberry fields were disappointing, so this year we went back and looked at what wasn’t working properly.
We prepared the whole patch again, improved drainage, installed new irrigation, formed new raised beds and put weedmat and woodchip between the rows to get on top of one of our biggest problems from last season, weeds.
Then 23 family and friends helped us plant all 25,000 strawberry plants in one day.
They’re now established, flowering and our first ripe strawberries have already started sneaking through.
There’s still a bit to go before we get into the bigger picking quantities, but the new fields are looking really good so far and I’m excited to see what they produce this season.
This is probably the biggest completely new experience we’re adding this year.
The Berry Dairy is part of our working dairy farm, but until now visitors haven’t really had the opportunity to see much of the actual dairy farm.
Our new tractor tours will take visitors out through the farm, past the cows and paddocks and down around the dairy.
I’ve wanted to do this for a while because one of the things I really want The Berry Dairy to do is give people a better connection with agriculture.
There’s obviously plenty of fun stuff here, but I also love that kids can come strawberry picking, see the animals and now actually head out onto a working dairy farm and see a little more of where their food comes from.
The playgrounds have had a decent update too.
We’ve added new equipment and made some changes to the under-five playground to make the area safer and better suited to the smaller kids.
The playgrounds are always one of the busiest parts of The Berry Dairy, so this was definitely an area we wanted to keep improving.
There are still a few finishing touches happening, but they’re starting to look very different to what they did a few weeks ago.
The dog park has probably had one of the biggest transformations.
We’re extending it to include an approximately 80 metre fully enclosed run so dogs can actually have a proper run around off lead.
We’ve also somehow ended up with a 20 foot shipping container in there.
That’s being turned into a covered seating area overlooking the strawberry fields, so you’ll be able to sit with something from the café while the dog has a run.
Getting the container into position involved two tractors, chains and temporarily removing part of the fence.
Brendan continues to be very supportive of my ideas.
Mostly.
There has also been a huge amount happening across the rest of The Berry Dairy.
Landscaping, pressure washing, mowing, line trimming, updating areas around the petting zoo, putting all the tables, chairs, umbrellas and marquee back out and generally getting everything ready to open again.
The Discovery Trail, Farmyard Petting Zoo, café, covered seating and all the usual Berry Dairy areas are still here.
We’ve just spent a lot of this winter trying to improve how everything fits together and fixing things we knew we wanted to do better after last season.
And obviously we haven’t forgotten the important stuff.
There’ll still be pick-your-own strawberries, real fruit ice cream, the café, animals, playgrounds and plenty of space to spend a few hours out on the farm.
Strawberry picking will depend on how much ripe fruit we have available, particularly at the beginning of the season, so we’ll keep everyone updated as the crop starts building.
The Berry Dairy reopens on Monday 28 September.
You don’t need to book for a normal visit. Just come out.
We’ve still got plenty happening between now and opening day, but after spending the whole winter pulling things apart, building things and changing things, it’s finally starting to come together.
Now we just need to finish it all in the next two weeks 😅