5 minute read
Bay Branch Farm
from June 2022
by VIP Magazine
Vip recently had the pleasure of roaming Richie and Janet Porter’s family farm, Bay Branch Farm, right outside of Florence. As we combed through the strawberry plants discovering the deep red and mouthwatering fruit, Richie shared how they became strawberry farmers and what all it entails.
Q & A
How did Bay Branch come about?
“My wife and I moved our family to Florence in 1999 when I was hired by Carolina Power and Light Company, now known as Duke Energy. We purchased the farm in 2008. In 2010, our home in Florence sold so we bought a used mobile home and moved to the farm. A few years later, we started building a house on the farm and moved into it in 2017. “My wife enjoys growing things as much as I do – flowers and vegetables. She and I visited a strawberry farm and while picking, we thought about how fun it would be to add this to our farm. After much guidance and encouragement from fellow strawberry farmers, we worked on our soil and began planting. Today, our primary products are strawberries in the spring and pumpkins in the fall. We also make and sell some other items such as baked goods, turkey pokes, carpenter bee traps, and miscellaneous Bay Branch Farm logo merchandise.”
959 E. St. Paul Road, Timmonsville | 843.621.8654 Facebook: BayBranchFarmSC | Instagram: @baybranchfarms
Where do you sell your produce?
“Customers can come to the farm and purchase pre-picked berries. Because we are a relatively small strawberry grower, we are not in a position to open our patch for folks to pick their own. We have an Instagram and Facebook page where we post the availability of strawberries during the season. Customers can preorder berries and get them at the farm or arrange to meet us at a central location in Florence. We also sell at the City Center Farmers Market in Florence. “Our fall pumpkin patch is primarily pick-your-own and is a wonderful family experience. Last year was our first year growing pumpkins. It was so much more fun than we expected. Hearing children laughing and talking with their parents, watching families choose the perfect pumpkin, and just being a part of their excitement was a real joy for us. Visitors can stroll through the patch, choose their pumpkins, and haul them to their vehicles using wagons we provide. We also have a fall photo station where visitors can take pictures with their families. This fall, we hope to add a few activities for children to enjoy. Additionally, we will have picnic tables for those who want to have a picnic and have also purchased a commercial popcorn maker!”
What’s the process of growing good strawberries and pumpkins?
“It all starts with good soil. The soil has to have all the right nutrients and that requires fertilizer. I pull soil samples before planting and send them to Clemson University for assessment. The local Clemson Extension agent will review the sample results with me and I then add lime and/or fertilizer to the soil based on their recommendations. The Extension Service has been an integral partner from our beginning. Tony Melton, who recently passed away, was the first agent with whom we worked. He was a great guy and will surely be missed. Next, you have to have healthy, diseasefree plants (strawberries) and seeds (pumpkins). Once they are planted, I monitor them almost daily for growth, insects, disease, and water needs. While I can control the amount of water given through the irrigation system, I cannot control the amount of rain we get. If we don’t get rain, I can irrigate as needed; but there is nothing I can do when we get excessive rain. Too much rain can bring disease problems to plants and can cause fruit to rot. Strawberries are delicate and temperamental. When they are ripe, they have to be picked fairly quickly. If left in the field more than a couple of days once they ripen, they will begin to rot…and that brings disease and insects. Pumpkins, on the other hand, are much more flexible. They do not demand immediate attention once they ripen and can stay in the field for quite some time. In fact, we have a few pumpkins from last October that still look pretty good! We get a lot of compliments on how our strawberries taste, so it is very important to us that people enjoy them. To get a good idea of how they are tasting, I eat them the entire time I am picking. However, I can’t taste the ones we sell, so I just tell people to let me know if they are not pleased and I will replace the berries or give them back their money.”
What types of pumpkins do you grow?
“We grow about 12 varieties. Those particular varieties were chosen based on recommendations from an experienced grower in the upstate who has been key to our success with pumpkins. He has been growing them for over 20 years and has a large-scale family-owned and operated farm. Some of the varieties we grow include Speckled Hound, Warty Goblin, Aladdin, and Long Island Cheese. One of the largest pumpkins we have grown to date is a 60-pounder. That was plenty big for us!”
Janet and Richie have been married for 28 years. When not working on the farm, Janet teaches at The King’s Academy in Florence and Richie is still working at Duke Energy. They have two sons, Cameron and Chase. Cameron and his wife live in Spartanburg and just had a child, allowing Richie and Janet to have the title of grandparents. Chase has an Agri-Business degree from Clemson and works for Carolina Eastern in Scranton and also helps on the farm.
FRESH
Strawberry Pie
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 deep dish pie crust • 8 oz. Cream cheese • 2 Tbsp. Powdered sugar • 1/2 tsp. Vanilla • 2 quarts fresh strawberries - washed, hulled, and halved • 3/4 cup sugar • 2 tbsp. Cornstarch
recipe provided by
Bay Branch Farm
1. Prepare pie crust according to package directions for empty baked crust; cool.
2. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat until smooth; spread into bottom of baked pie crust.
3. Puree half of the strawberries.
4. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine pureed strawberries, sugar and cornstarch. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens and becomes clear (about 7 to 10 minutes); remove from heat.
5. Stir in remaining strawberries. Let cool for 10 minutes; pour into crust. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.
