After a difficult year, the owners of Sunset Berry Farm in Alderson are planning to put the past behind them and make 2021 their best year yet as they prepare for the annual strawberry harvest.
According to Jennifer Gilkerson, co-owner of Sunset Berry Farm, she and her husband Kent lost their entire strawberry crop last season.
“Since then we have been in crisis mode,” Gilkerson said. However, she hopes that will soon change.
In order to recover some of their losses, and provide much—needed entertainment to the local communities, the Gilkersons, along with volunteer co-host Charlotte Melton, decided that the farm would be an ideal place to host a festival since the town of Alderson had to cancel the annual Strawberry Festival due to the COVID—19 pandemic.
“We depend very heavily on the revenue that comes from it,” Gilkerson said of the Alderson Strawberry Festival. “Everybody really needs a boost.”
When the event was first being planned, Farm Fest was decided to be the name of the festival, but since then, the name has been changed to Strawberry Fest to highlight the work done by Alderson Main Street and to provide a seamless transition since the ultimate goal is that Alderson Main Street will be able to take the event back over next year, Gilkerson explained.
Strawberry Fest will take place at Sunset Berry Farm beginning on Thursday, May 20, and last until Thursday, June 3. Those dates were chosen because that is typically the time for the strawberry harvest, Gilkerson said.
Events will take place each day from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and will include picking your own strawberries.
“We doubled our crop size,” Gilkerson said. “We have three acres of strawberries this year. That is 50,000 pounds of strawberries.”
Last year many regular strawberry customers prepaid for their strawberries, and even though the crop failed, customers did not ask for a refund, Gilkerson said.
“For that reason, we planted double, so they could come get all the strawberries they want and we could still sell to new customers,” Gilkerson said. “We have a lot of strawberries to get rid of, so people are welcome to come and eat these strawberries.”
Other events will include a jump pad for kids, a fairy garden scavenger hunt and strawberry variety taste testing at 6 p.m. Also, not to alarm anyone, but Gilkerson noted that there have been zombie sightings in the fields at the farm. For this reason, they are mounting paintball guns on hay wagons to let kids have a chance to take care of any zombies they may see during the festival.
In addition to all the fun events they have planned, the Gilkersons want to host as many local vendors as possible.
“We are hoping this will be good for little West Virginia craft-type businesses that are probably in crisis mode like us,” Gilkerson said. “We would love to have West Virginia made products.”
Those who wish to be a vendor may go to sunsetberryfarm.net and fill out an application or call Jennifer Gilkerson at 304—646—3784, or Charlotte Melton at 304—661—4567.
The main events for Strawberry Fest will take place on Saturday, May 22, and Saturday, May 29, and will include the following:
• 8 a.m. — 3 p.m. — West Virginia Craft Market featuring meats and produce
• 8 a.m. — 4 p.m. — Pony Rides
• 12 pm — 8 p.m. — West Virginia smoked/pulled pork
• 4 p.m. — Cornhole competitions
• 4 p.m. — 8 p.m. — the bluegrass/country band The Goodson Boys will perform.
The schedule for Sunday, May 23, is as follows:
• 10 a.m. — Strawberry painting and tasting
• 1 p.m. — 2 p.m. — Strawberry Dish Contest. Those who enter this contest have a chance to win a $50 grand prize
• 6 p.m. — Farm to Table dinner (reservations required).
To help raise money for Strawberry Fest, the Gilkersons will host an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 3.
According to Gilkerson, the cost will be $5 per child or $10 for two or more children. A special prize will be awarded to those children who find the golden egg. During the Easter egg hunt, a jump pad and various activities will be available.
“It will be more than an Easter egg hunt. It should be a really fun time for the kids,” Gilkerson said. “We have lots of space on the farm.”
This space will also keep egg hunters safe, Gilkerson noted. The event will be outside, social distancing will be in place and age groups will be spaced out into the following categories:
• Noon — ages 2 and under;
• 1 p.m. — ages 3—4;
• 2 p.m. — ages 5—6;
• 3 p.m. — ages 7—8.
“We are going to set it up to be safe,” Gilkerson said.
If those events aren’t enough to keep the family busy, the Gilkersons hope to be able to sell strawberries to Greenbrier County Schools, as they have in the past, and they will continue to provide space for birthday parties, reunions, and weddings.
When the popular Morgan Orchard went out of business years ago, a peach orchard was planted at Sunset Berry Farm and this will be the first year that people can come get peaches in late July and August, according to Gilkerson. Throughout the late summer harvest, the farm will also have watermelon, sweet corn, tomatoes and more for customers to enjoy.
They also hope to bring back the Sunflower Program this fall.
“The Sunflower Program started last year after we lost the strawberry crop,” Gilkerson said. “Agri-tourism brought people from two or three hours away to visit our sunflower fields.”
At least one acre of land has been set aside for the sunflowers and the goal is to have a Sunflower Festival in late August or September.
“People can come and do photography or they can pick their own sunflowers to take home,” Gilkerson said.
With help from Melton, the two are planning to start a Sunflower pageant and have a pageant queen.
“We are going to have a lot of fun,” Gilkerson said.
Sunset Berry Farm is located on the Monroe County side of Alderson on Flat Mountain. For more information about the farm, check out their Facebook page or sunsetberryfarm.net.
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