Did you know that May is National Strawberry Month? North Carolina is a top producer of strawberries with approximately 2,000 acres planted across the state each year. Gross Farms in Sanford not only produces strawberries, but a variety of other crops as well. Currently operating on the seventh generation of family members, Gross Farms has a strong history and legacy of producing high-quality crops for their customers.
Recognized and registered as a North Carolina Century Farm Family, Gross Farms is a 1,500-acre facility that has been in family operation for over 100 years. In 1983, John Gross took over the farm from his father and continues to manage it today alongside his wife, Tina Gross. “John grew up on the farm and always had a passion for it,” Tina said. “I grew up helping my father manage a large garden, so I knew what I was getting myself into when John and I got married over thirty years ago. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.” John and Tina have four children and six grandchildren. Sons. Cody and Colton Gross, and son-in-law, Wesley Souther, all work full-time on the farm. Daughters, Kassidy Gross and MaKayla Gross Souther, work part-time on the farm. “It takes all of us to logistically plan, coordinate and make everything happen on the farm. There is no one I would rather do it with,” said Tina. Today, the Gross family produces strawberries, tobacco, pumpkins, soybeans, corn and rye straw, as well as offers several agritourism events throughout the year.
In 2000, John and Tina made the decision to diversify the farm operation by adding three acres of strawberries. This year, they are producing four acres of strawberries with four varieties of strawberry plants that are known for their striking flavor and long shelf life: Sweet Carolina, Ruby June, GF Belle, and Fronteras. “Strawberries are a fun crop to produce, but also a challenging crop to produce and manage,” Tina said. “They bring customers to the farm in the spring, which is always a wonderful thing, but there are a lot of factors during the growing season for strawberries that we can’t control on the farm.” Although the Gross family used to purchase their strawberry plants locally each year, due to recent disease outbreaks they have switched to purchasing plants from California and Canada each fall. “Our plants are delivered to us between September and October each year,” Tina said. “We have twenty-one H2A workers that help us on the farm, so we usually set out our strawberries before they leave in November each year.” Throughout the winter months, John, Tina and their family work to cover the strawberries with row covers when the temperatures drop below 32 degrees. “We no longer frost and freeze protect our strawberry plants with over-head irrigation, but we do cover them with the row covers to ensure the strawberry plants stay warmer during the winter months in hopes of an early strawberry crop,” Tina said. Once the plants start producing in the spring, all berries are picked by hand. “One of the challenges we face each year is anticipating when the berries will be ready for harvest. Depending on the weather, it could be anywhere from mid-late March to early April.” This year, due to higher temperatures and low rain totals, strawberries started coming off in large quantities early last month. Once the berries are ready for harvest, they are marketed to customers for pick-your-own at the farm or purchase in buckets at the produce barn on site, which is open from mid-late March to early June each year.
In addition to questions on when strawberry plants will produce each year, Tina and her family face several unknowns when growing strawberries each year. In fact, it’s not only a guessing game of when the berries will be ready for harvest, but also how much each plant will produce. “Farming is faith in action,” Tina said. “All farmers face a variety of unknowns, including the weather, every year. Our faith keeps us going even through the hard days because we trust that the Lord will always provide as long as we do our part.” Although the unknowns can be challenging, the positives of growing strawberries far outweigh the negatives for the Gross family. “I love many aspects of strawberry season, including eating them straight out of the field with my grandchildren,” Tina said. “My favorite part is probably marketing our berries each year online and through social media channels and seeing the fruit of that labor come to life when people visit the farm for our pick-your-own events. I love seeing families and friend groups come out to the farm and enjoy picking berries together, especially since many children don’t have that opportunity anymore.” In addition to pick-your-own strawberries in the spring, Gross Farms also offers a corn maze and pumpkin patch (you-pick/we-pick) in the fall as well as farm tours.
Products from Gross Farms can be purchased on-site at their produce barn, a satellite stand and through other local farms and produce stands, like Noel’s Produce Stand in Pittsboro. “One of the beautiful things about our local farming community is that we are all willing to help one another when times get tough,” Tina said. Although she loves to eat them straight out of the field, Tina also enjoys making freezer jam with strawberries from the farm as well as a fresh strawberry salad.
As one of the top three producers of strawberries in the nation, North Carolina plays a major role in the strawberry industry. According to Tina, strawberries not only benefit our state due to their large volume of sales each year, but also for the health benefits that they provide and the amount of people they bring to the farm. “People don’t grow up on farms today like we used to in the past,” she said. “Agritourism such as offering you -pick strawberries, a corn maze and you-pick pumpkins is a win-win for farms, farmers, farm families and consumers by offering the public with a unique opportunity to visit farms all across our beautiful state. It is a vital educational component and provides the public with a chance to to expereience hands-on a few of the many positive aspects of farm life. Strawberries provide the biggest push for that in the spring, while pumpkins and the corn maze provide the biggest push in the fall.” We are so proud of all that Gross Farms is doing to enhance our state’s number one industry. Be sure to stop by this year, whether for strawberries or another event, and stock up on all things local!
