The Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-06-29, Page 32PAGE 12A—GODERICHSIGNAL-STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 1978
Strawberries ars overflowing th
BY
JOANNE WALTERS
The season for fresh
Ontario strawberries has
arrived --about one and a
half weeks late this year --
but nevertheless it is
here. And nothing was
more evident than its
arrival last week at the
Benmiller Acres
strawberry patch owned
Vanessa Vorshuk (left) has joined Shirley and John Hazlitt of 1,(R4 Goderich
on their farm for the summer under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's
Young Agriculturalist Program. She arrived at Benmiller Acres last week
from Windsor and Cora de Vries, who has worked with the Hazlitts at their
strawberry patch for five years, helped her learn the inside work such as
weighing the produce. (Photo by Joanne Walters)
Windsor girl joins
farming community
BY
JOANNE WALTERS
Vanessa Vorshuk
arrived at John and
Shirley Hazlitt's farm at
RR 4 Goderich last week
from Windsor and says
its great to be here!
•-Vanessa is working for
the Hazlitts under • the
Junior Agriculturalist
Program operated by the
Ministry of Agriculture
and Food. John Hazlitt
pays her $5 a day plus
room and board and the
Ministry pays her $6 a
day and does all the.
paper work. •Meanwhile,
a kid from the city gets to
enjoy country life for the
summer as well as
learning about what is
involved in the operation
of farming.
"It's fun. I'm enjoying
it. It's really nice up here.
Nicer than the city," says
Vanessa who just com-
pleted her Grade 12 in
Windsor.
Vanessa applied for the
Junior Agriculturalist
Program through her
high school. She says she
wants to be a farmer. And
how(does she propose to
accomplish that?
"Get some grants or
marry a rich farm boy,"
she laughs.
But seriously, she plans
to attend Ridgetown
Agriculture College and
see what options are open
to her.
"My dad always
wanted to be a farmer (he
works in -a grocery store
in Windsor) so I'm going
to buy him one so he can
live on it," she smiles.
Last week Vanessa was
busy learning the inside
work at Benmiller Acres
stray berry patch. Cora
de Vries, who has worked
with the Hazlitts for five
years, was showing her
how to weigh up the
produce, etc. John Hazlitt
has promised to take her
'around to visit various
farms in the area and she
says she will get a chance
to do a bit of everything.
Last year, ..Vanessa
worked as a forest ranger
near Georgian Bay. She
1\
helped mark trails, cut
trees and clean up parks.
She looks forward to
her farming experiences
with equal enthusiasm.
by John and Shirley
Hazlitt as people arrived
by the carloads to pick
their own fresh produce.
The Hazlitts started out
about six or seven years
ago with a mere quarter
acre of berries grown at
their home. They soon
decided to increase this
acreage to two and test
the market for this fruit.
They were sold out all the
time!
The Hazlitts now have
11 acres of the delicious
berries and for the first
time, they have opened
up to the public all day,
from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. six
days a week. (They wait
until 9 to=tpen so the dew
has a chance to burn off.)
The season is only three
to four weeks long and it
will depend on the
number of people who
come to pick as to how
long the berries at
Benmiller'Acres last.
When people arrive at
Benmiller Acres, con-
tainers in hand, they hop
onto a wagon pulled by a
tractor driven by John.
"Just the wagon ride
alone is a big attraction
for many people," he
says.
They are transported to
the field where Shirley
and student helper,
Brenda Feagan, are
waiting to guide them
down the rows. Wherever
a person leaves off
picking, Shirley plants a
small flag so she'll know
where to start the next
person off because
nothing would be more
frustrating that going
down a row already
cleaned out by the person
ahead of you.
Once a person has
picked his fill of berries,
he is transported on the
wagon back to the
starting point once again
where he enters ' a
,building and has his
berries weighed by Cora
de Vries who has been
working with the Hazlitts
for five years now.
Cora deducts the
weight of the container
and charges 80 cents a.
kilo. She also sells freezer
bags and gives away free
recipes.
The only' restriction at
Benmiller Acres is that
no pets or children are
allowed in the berry
patch. Hundreds of adults
pour in from miles
around however-
Goderich, Kincardine,
Listowel, Ripley ;and
Wingham
places.
"I've
to name a few anything like it," says
Mr•s. Beryl Hunter of
never seen Lucknuw holding up a
patches
big, juicy berry. "I'm
going to freeze some and
make the rest into jam."
Terry Crowley
Operating a strawberry
patch can be a deman-
ding task at times. The
Hazlitts must stay on
'location all day for one
thing.
"It's like camping out
for three weeks," says
Shirley. "We have picnic
lunches and barbecue in
the evenings."
That doesn't sound so
bad. The real problem,
however, lies in the
protection of the berries
from weeds, frost and dry
weather.
"Weed control is a
major problem," says
John. "The two worst
Turn to page 13A •
GODERICH
524-9075
London
Life
representing A -
MAITLAND RIVER
SILVERSMITHL\
r.g. Stoddart
SILVERSMITHING AAM)JEWELLER }-
DESIGNER
gold • silver
133 ST. GEORGES CRESCENT,
COI)ERILH. ONT.
Bernice Moore only lives about a mile away from 'Benmiller Acres where
John and Shirley Hazlitt operate a "pick your own" strawberry patch. She
says she loves picking berries and not only picks them for herself but for
neighbours as well. (Photo by Joanne Walters)
phone 524-8433
member
metal arts guild
Ontario crafts council
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Le C
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