New Owners Same Passion: ‘Happy Critter Farms’ Opens Beloved Strawberry Fields
CARLTON, Minn.– As of last year, the beloved former ‘Finks Berry Farm’ out in Carlton took on new owners.
They’re tasked to take care of 11 miles of strawberry fields.
‘Happy Critters Farms’ introduced a plethora of pollinator plants, and they stay away from insecticides.
And with this new opportunity, they had big shoes to fill.
“So last year we planted 40,000 plants, and we took care of them all summer. Well, we didn’t, our team, did it. We have a great team of teenage kids that help and brought them to the field. They are now with what we have now. And so, it’s super exciting for us to be harvesting off of our strawberry plants for the first time,” said Joe Lambert, Farmer & Owner ‘Happy Critters Farm’.
Farmer joe said that he’s just looking forward to the fruits of his team’s labor.
The turnout so far, he said, has been ‘berry’ successful.
“We’re just here to pick some berries. We love to see like, how things grow. You know, you see it in the grocery store sometimes, but to actually see the full experience of how they’ve grown and how you can pick them. And I just think it just really adds to the whole experience of, yeah, eating,” said Daisy Cartier, visiting The Berry Field with family and friends.
“How many strawberries are we hoping to find, you guys?” Cartier asked the group of kids.
“A thousand!” said one kid. “One hundred and one!” Another kid shouted.
“It is a super humbling experience this year, having so many people come out and support us and so many nice comments about the berries and our staff. It’s really fun for me and my wife Amanda, to let the kids that worked so hard last year see the success that they this is their success, right? It’s not ours. It’s theirs. I want every kid to leave here with a smile on their face and happy and maybe a little berry juice on her chin,” beamed Farmer Joe.
The berry farm is on day 6 of being open. And Farmer Joe says that the next two weeks is looking promising for picking.
