“Indian Springs Berry Farm is a u-pick blackberry farm. This is our seventh summer. We are basically open the month of July, most years, and we’re a little bit late this year, but we’ll have berries probably until the first week of August,” said owner Jason Pratt.
The two-acre farm, owned by Jason and his wife, Beth, was opened after Jason adapted part of his mom’s farmland into a berry farm, and started selling blackberries and honey. In addition to more than 47 rows of blackberries, there are three beehives on the farm.
“The farm has been in the family since the 1980s and it was a horse farm or a boarding stable and I split it in half just to get the blackberries growing. It’s just a part-time gig to make better use of the farmland,” Pratt said.
Indian Springs Berry Farm grows three varieties, including Natchez, Ouachita and Apache. Pratt describes the berries as “soft, super-sweet, and a higher quality than the berries in the grocery stores.”
“The berries are delicious and you can only get them a month out of the year. You can’t get berries that are this quality in the grocery store, because they are all from Mexico or the Southeast. Not that they don’t have good berries there, it’s the fact that they have to travel…Here, they are soft and sweet, because they only have to travel from here to your house,” he said.
Pratt grew up on the farm, which is still owned by his mother. Eleven months a year are spent preparing for berry season.
“The most enjoyable part is when the field is fruiting heavily and I can look down, and I can see all the berries, and there’s no pests, or diseases on them, and when it’s going right. The time to tell it’s going right is the month of July. People are coming out, and I can see what they are picking, and the berries look good. That’s when it all comes together,” Pratt said.
During a summer trip, customers may walk through the farm, get a picking basket and pick berries from the field. The darkest blackberries are ripe, while red berries are still ripening. Berries are priced by the pound.
Customers may also purchase honey, jellies and jams.
The farm is typically open two days a week. Guests may pick as many blackberries as they like and they are welcome to bring their own baskets.
“It’s about seeing the big, beautiful berries, and how much people like them,” Pratt said.
Shelton Williams of Fairfield has worked at Indian Springs Berry Farm since the farm started and he enjoys the job.
“I like the outdoors and it’s peaceful,” he said.
A large part of his job is maintenance on the farm. He works seasonally from late April through early August.
“I weed the plants underneath, and I make sure the vines are on the trellis’ and I make sure they are going up,” Williams said.
He said his favorite part of the job is “I can eat some blackberries,” while his least favorite aspect “are the bugs.”
Williams said he loves seeing people visit the farm and watching them pick blackberries.
“Every time I’m out here, I get to see people come through. I see kids smiling and laughing, and their parents are helping them pick blackberries. They say, ‘Oh, I got a big one, or Ooh, I got this one. People get a lot of enjoyment out of picking blackberries,” Williams said.
Indian Springs Berry Farm was recently featured on an Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association Tour. About 25 guests took a tour of the farm, As part of the tour, Pratt guided attendees on a walk-through of the farm. He explained the farm set-up, shared about the Rotating Cross Arm Trellis System, and more. Pratt also talked about seasonal farming and how the u-pick operations work.
“We offer these tours so people can come and see what’s out there as far as sustainable agriculture in Ohio and attendees can talk to people who are really in the business. Participants can have some of their technical questions answered and learn more about where their food comes from,” said Jerah Pettibone, Begin Farming and Land Access Educator of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association.
Pettibone said Indian Springs Berry Farm was chosen as one of the farms to showcase because Pratt uses a unique trellis system they wanted OEFFA members to see.
Pratt is also within his first 10 years of farming, so he’s considered a new farmer by the USDA, and OEFFA has a lot of programming that supports and educates new farmers and we wanted to highlight that, she said.
“For the tour season at large, farms are chosen based on having a variety of products, a variety of locations and growing methods. Then, if we have some specific information that we want to highlight for that season, we’ll choose farmers that know about that,” Pettibone said.
While the farm has closed for the 2023 season, it is still selling honey and jams. Follow the farm’s Facebook page for updates on the 2024 season at facebook.com/organicUpick.
More info
Farm tours are offered between May and October. Tours are free and open to the public. For more information and a complete tour schedule, go to www.oeffa.org.
Check facebook.com/organicupick for the picking schedule. More is online at indianspringsberryfarm.com.
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