Also they have six helpers including a family that has worked for them for the past nine years. This past week, pickers were in the field, the Barnhills were at their stand cleaning and packing quarts of strawberries readying them for grocery stores while taking care of their local customers who were steadily trickling in. Most left with at least a couple of quarts. A sign posted on the stand s wall provided customers with prices. The Barnhills anticipate harvesting about a quart of berries from each of their 60,000 plants.
Customers come from all around central Arkansas for the berries.
We sell a lot of strawberries here, Barnhill said. Strawberries are our first crop of the season. Sometimes, we have so many calls for them that we have to make a reservation list. In addition to selling to the public, the Barnhills also market to grocery stores. The Barnhills said they were one of the first in the area to begin growing in the plastic style operation in 1991.