Pictured are the Henrys, Judy, Mike and Dean, and the Wakemans, Joe and Kristin. Photo by Marlys Barker
As quietly as the process of plants beginning to bud, so too was the transitioning of ownership at one of Nevada’s rural treasures, The Berry Patch.
After 50-plus years, ownership officially changed hands on May 1 from Dean and Judy Henry to Joe and Kristin Wakeman, a changeover that was a year-and-a-half in the making.
Kristin said it started with a simple over-the-fence, neighbor-to-neighbor visit she and Joe were having with Dennis Orcutt, who, along with his wife Kathy, is one of the couples who work at the Berry Patch.
“Dennis asked Joe if we knew anybody interested in a berry farm, and we were like, ‘Whoa, could that be a thing,’” Kristin remarked.
The Wakemans were familiar with The Berry Patch, having visited it on field trips with their two children and gone there a few times as a family. Plus, they currently live just a short distance south of The Berry Patch, and previously had lived just north of it.
The Wakemans reached out to the Henrys.
Dean and Judy Henry started The Berry Patch, which is located roughly four-and-a-half miles south of Nevada on 280th Street, just off county highway S-14, back in the early 1970s.
“Dean found the property in about 1970, and we built our house and moved into it in 1973,” Judy said.
“A cattle buyer had owned the land,” Dean said of the 140-acre parcel. “And I told Judy, ‘I think I found it!’ There was just enough flat land for a strawberry crop.”
Strawberries and freshly grown produce were a passion for the Henrys, who grew their first strawberries while living at Pammel Court at Iowa State University! They envisioned growing a big crop of them, open to the public, and were willing to do whatever it took to make it work.
Part of this meant continuing their day jobs – both teachers, Judy at the preschool level, and Dean at the collegiate level. He taught distributive studies for DMACC. The other part involved spending a lot of time conducting research, learning what works and what doesn’t, and traveling the country to learn from others. They got their best advice on growing blueberries, now a very successful crop for the farm, from people in Michigan!
When they first started, they focused on strawberries and apples, and Dean also remodeled the garage to serve as Judy’s preschool location. Later, she moved the preschool into a building he’d built to work on apples. Her Berry Patch Preschool ran through the late 1990s, and the preschool building now serves as The Berry Patch Country Store.
The Henrys had been thinking about selling their farm for a while. Dean, being 90 years old, and Judy, in her late 80s, needed to find the right buyer or buyers, and they felt themselves drawn to the Wakemans as the right people to carry the farm forward.
“Others had expressed interest in the farm, and they had the money, but they didn’t have the dedication to the path we’d taken through the years of producing food and offering it to others at reasonable prices,” Dean said.
They were also, and very importantly, looking for new owners who would be willing to let their son Mike continue to work on the farm. Mike has been on the farm since he was 7 years old. He’s now 59.
“This is what Mike is good at, and he needs to be on the farm,” Joe said, noting that Mike is usually the first person outside at the start of the day and often the last person to go in at night. He eats many of his lunches while working from the farm’s checkout stand, and is a helpful smile people see when they arrive at the farm.
Joe and Kristin feel honored to be able to carry forward what they call “a 50-year passion project for the Henrys.” And it fits in well with the Wakemans’ lifestyle. Both employees of the Nevada Community School District – Joe as technology director and Kristin in the business office – they love the outdoors and farming, and, like the Henrys, they plan to continue full-time school jobs while they run the farm.
“He’s always told me he wants to farm,” said Kristin about her husband, who grew up around a long-time family farm near Ft. Dodge. Kristin also grew up being able to run around outside at her grandparents’ land in the country, hiking in the woods and hunting for mushrooms. She loves gardening and all things about the outdoors.
Joe said he needs nature as a release, a way to get away from desk work. Kristin also thrives in nature. “I’ve never wanted a life where I felt like I needed a vacation from it. This,” she said of The Berry Patch, “is our paradise.”
For nearly a year and a half before the official sale, the Wakemans had been shadowing the Henrys and learning all they could about the farm.
“Our goal has been to keep things pretty much the same,” Joe said. “The Henrys have had a recipe for happiness, and everyone loves coming out here. It’s not about becoming a big commercialized farm. They’ve never charged admission, and that’s one thing we’d like to not have to do. We want to have affordable family fun, although we may have to start weighing people when they come and go,” he joked.
But knowing there’s some taste-testing as people pick doesn’t bother Joe. “I love seeing the joy on a kids’ face when that kid is eating off the plant and smiling.”
Along with the “you-pick” experience that many prefer, the Wakemans plan to continue to offer pre-picked items for those who don’t have the time or physical ability to pick, and they have also expanded the items for sale in the farm’s Country Store. Iowa-made honey is one example of the types of things they will carry.
Joe and Kristin have learned from the Henrys that there is a lot more to running The Berry Patch than meets the eye. “It’s more than just planting and harvesting,” he said. “You’ve got to deal with the irrigation system, employees who need direction, customers who pick black currants instead of blueberries and wonder about the taste… It’s all the things you don’t necessarily think of while having a farm, like succession planning for all the crops, which are so different than the standard Iowa farms growing corn and soybeans.”
The Berry Patch grows all kinds of things now. In addition to strawberries and apples, they offer other types of berries, rhubarb, cherries, pumpkins, and more. And with fall coming soon, Joe said they’ll continue the fall traditions at the farm with pumpkins, hayrides, apple picking … good outdoor family fun.
The Henrys will continue to live on the farm in the house they built, and they’ll continue to provide guidance and support to the Wakemans as needed.
“We couldn’t ask for three better people – Dean, Judy and Mike – to be on this journey with,” Joe said.
Dean and Judy share similar feelings about the Wakemans. “We continually thank the Lord for their presence,” Judy said. “It was God’s will that they walked into our life. He sent the right people.”
There’s definitely a kinship between the old owners and the new, as their love for farming and the outdoors is shared.
“Just living here and enjoying the fruit and the seasons and the people who have been grateful for us being here … it’s been a joy to see Dean happy over what he got started,” Judy said as she reflected on the life they’ve lived.
Joe looks ahead to a similar life. “I think we’re all crazy enough – or sane enough – that we’re passionate about all of this enough to do it.”
The Berry Patch hours are currently 8 a.m.-6 p.m., but do change seasonally so keep an eye on the Berry Patch Website (berrypatchfarm.com) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/berrypatchfarmiowa) for latest hours and crop updates. Folks can contact us at info@berrypatchfarm.com or by calling 515-382-5138.
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada
