MASTER GARDENER Bekah Marten shared techniques for planting and growing strawberries with a group of more than 20 new and seasoned gardeners at Halvorson Farms in Yacolt on March 15.
BEKAH MARTEN, Master Gardener with the Washington State University Extension Office in Clark County, demonstrated how to plant a bare root strawberry plant with the assistance of Whitney Ritola, age 4, of Orchards. More than 20 new and seasoned gardeners attended the workshop at Halvorson Farms in Yacolt on March 15.
ERIK HALVORSON, of Halvorson Farms in Yacolt, organized a discounted “group buy” of strawberry plants using his farm’s Facebook page. Halvorson is planting 550 strawberry plants this year in his farm’s market garden.
YACOLT – Farmers don’t just spend their time with their hands in the dirt these days. For Erik Halvorson of Halvorson Farms in Yacolt, the internet has proven to be a farm tool as valuable as a hoe or shovel.
In January, Halvorson wrote a post on Facebook offering a “group buy” of bare root strawberry plants at discount pricing. The offer was posted on his farm’s page, and on the page “Battle Ground, USA.”
Halvorson said one fact had caught his eye on his supplier’s website – the larger the order, the lower the price would be for bare root strawberry plants. He thought that if he could partner with other buyers to place an order, everyone would enjoy the savings. The response was enthusiastic. He quickly had more than 20 individuals who wanted to share in a plant order, and the group order totaled 2,275 strawberry plants.
Kerri Hartell joined in the group buy after seeing Halvorson’s offer on the “Battle Ground, USA” page.
“I told him I have two brown thumbs,” Hartell said. “I asked him if he could offer some advice on growing strawberries.”
Halvorson took that idea and ran with it. He arranged for Master Gardener Bekah Marten, from the Washington State University Extension Office in Clark County, to teach a strawberry growing workshop at his farm on March 15, and he invited all of his plant buyers to attend.
More than 20 new and seasoned gardeners listened attentively, undaunted by a windstorm which roared into town and pelted fir boughs against the side of the cozy farm shop. Hartell is planning to grow her strawberries in a large container, and she received advice on plant spacing, soil selection, and proper drainage. She said she has found the internet is a valuable tool for learning to garden. In 2014, she relied on a google search to determine the optimal time to harvest her home-grown cantaloupe, and searched for pickling recipes to preserve her crop of cucumbers.
Halvorson selected the Albion strawberry variety because it is day neutral, meaning it continues to bear fruit throughout the summer. He learned about this variety, not surprisingly, on the internet, where he viewed a video on YouTube.
Halvorson says the internet has been an asset to his business in other ways as well. He uses Facebook to market abundant harvests of a crop, to let his customers know what will be available at that week’s markets, and to reach buyers for meat raised to order. He has also learned a lot about small scale farming from YouTube videos, such as the one that introduced him to Albion strawberries.
This isn’t the first time Halvorson has used a group order to drive down his cost – earlier this year he connected online with other farm growers to place a bulk order for seed starting equipment at reduced prices.
Halvorson Farms opened for business in 2014, and “Farmer Erik” has relied on internet sites, the library, and mentoring from local farmers to learn farming skills.
“Other farmers have been generous with their knowledge,” he says, as he is striving to become an independent, self-sufficient farm producer. Halvorson sells his farm produce at the Battle Ground Saturday Market and the Salmon Creek Farmer’s Market.
Along with strawberries, he sells farm grown vegetables, three kinds of eggs, and free range chicken, turkey and pork. Halvorson says he is looking forward to a harvest that is spread over the growing season.
“When you have your entire crop of strawberries at once, you are selling them at the same time as everyone else,’’ Halvorson said. “With these I will have strawberries to sell all summer.”
Halvorson ordered 550 of the strawberry plants for his farm, where he is cultivating an expanded garden on a recently acquired 5-acre parcel.
This year the USDA awarded a grant to Halvorson Farms for the construction of a high tunnel unheated greenhouse. Grants are administered locally by the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Brush Prairie, and are awarded for beginning farmers, alternative farming methods, women and minority farmers, and other criteria. The new greenhouse will extend the farm’s growing season for vegetable crops. Preparations are already underway, with a cover crop of rye, field peas, and vetch in place to nourish and protect the new soil.
Additional gardening information and advice from Clark County Master Gardeners can be found athttp://gardening/wsu.edu or by calling the Heritage Farm Answer Clinic at (360) 397-6060.
