Two-worker families just don't have time. But we have lots of grandmas and grandpas who pick for the whole family. Bob Barthel keeps evening hours now at his Mequon fruit farm to accommodate those working families. In the early days, fields were opened for an hour in the morning and cars were lined up to get in. Older pickers still pick in volume for making jam and freezing berries, he said.
Younger ones are more apt to pick up a few quarts to eat fresh.
But in spite of shifting demographics, business is still good. On a heavy day during the three to four weeks that berries are ripe, Barthel opens his 10 acres of fields to some 800 to 1,000 pickers. For those who are willing to get their hands dirty, price is a definite advantage. At the Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago, the savings is somewhere around half. Families often fall in the last category.