Ripe Strawberries in January? You Betcha!
Introducing Ichigo Farms of Monterey County!
When it comes to growing Strawberries, California leads far and away in production with about 88% of the US-grown strawberries coming from our fair state. Because of the growing climate Strawberries require; warmth, full sun, but not too much of either along with relatively moist air which is why approximately 34,000 acres of Strawberries are grown only along the beautiful California coast. Strawberry production in California averages about 50,000 pounds per acre each season.
In Winter, there are almost no Strawberries grown here in Northern California, as the cold weather and occasional heavy rains make growing Strawberries mission: impossible…
Or maybe we should say “almost” mission: impossible until John Lewis and Ichigo Farms came to the rescue!
John Louie and his crew at Ichigo Farms have been growing some of the tastiest, juiciest, sweetest Strawberries in January for many years now!
The magic of what Ichigo Farms has achieved is due to his family’s multi-generational flower-growing business, which always incorporates the use of Hothouses, (Greenhouses if you prefer), to create an environment suitable to grow flowers year-round. The idea of using the Hothouse environment to grow Strawberries in the off-season was an experiment, and a natural progression to see what would happen, a trait common to almost all farmers.
John Louie is a 3rd generation, Japanese-American farmer responsible for incorporating strawberries into his family's long-time flower farming operation. Ichigo Farms has pioneered growing local strawberries in a greenhouse environment. They've introduced beneficial insects to control pests, they capture and recycle all water and sanitize with UV light (powered by solar panels on the farm!), and grow the berries in suspnded containers in a coconut husk composted medium which is a by-product of the coconut water industry.
Because of the nature of growing Strawberries in the limited space of Hothouses along with the unique approach of using suspended growing containers in a quasi-hydroponic setup, the yield of Ichigo Farms’ Produce is somewhat limited, (at least for now!), so we at Scotts Valley Market are honored to be able to offer these delicious jewels for our customers!
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