Strawberry harvest begins in earnest tomorrow, Friday, June 19 at Bardenhagen Berries in Lake Leelanau. The coveted Earliglow strawberry is available first, through Tuesday, then comes the Jewel.

New this season, says co-owner and berry farmer Pam Bardenhagen: “we have an online farm stand, where people can pre-order 8-quart flats of strawberries to pick up at our farm.”

They are not taking phone orders this summer.

“We put the online farm stand on social media as an experiment, and it kind of went viral. We’ve already sold 100 flats for Friday — people must be more used to ordering that way or perhaps they have more time at home to make jam,” she says. She notes that pre-orders are closed, just for Friday, with more pre-orders available later this weekend. 

She adds that overall quantities may be limited, this weekend, June 19-21, but they will have more staff picking starting Monday to keep up with high demand for berries.

The Bardenhagens’ roadside farm stand at 7990 East Horn Road, Lake Leelanau, will be staffed and stocked daily during strawberry season from 9am to noon. “It is possible to come to our farm stand to purchase individual quarts or 1 to 2 flats without pre-ordering,” says Bardenhagen. “But if you want to make sure of getting your berries on a certain day or are looking for 2 or more flats we do suggest you pre-order to help us anticipate how many berries to pick.”

Bardenhagen, who operates the farm with her husband Steve Bardenhagen, a 5th-generation farmer, says “his grandfather started the berries in the 1950’s…there used to be more strawberry farms in Leelanau County, but ours is now the last one standing.” The 180-acre farm is protected from future development through a conservation easement with the Leelanau Conservancy.

The Bardenhagens will be vending berries in person at the local farmers markets —Tuesdays in Glen Arbor; Fridays in Northport; Saturday in Traverse City — and online via the Leelanau Farmers Market local food marketplace or the Sara Hardy Downtown Traverse City Farmers Market, which now has a Wednesday evening pickup time. 

Local grocers such as Leland Mercantile, Hansen Foods, N.J.’s, Gallagher's Farm Market, and Anderson’s IGA, also receive frequent berry deliveries.

The short but sweet strawberry season lasts 14-18 days, with sweet cherries up next. Bardenhagen says they will try offering fresh cherries online this year, as well.