Pick your own fruit at Sweet Berry Farm
The berries are back at Sweet Berry Farm, just ask this young man! Staff Photo
The berries are making a comeback at Sweet Berry Farm after suffering damage from a hail storm earlier in April. You do the picking, say owners Dan and Gretchen Copeland, so it’s up to you to find the best, and now there’s plenty from which to choose.
The Copelands have at least 80,000 strawberry plants growing on five acres along with two acres of blackberries and six acres of peaches. The farm is located on FM 1980 just west of Marble Falls off RR 1431.
Picking your own fruit is not all you can do at Sweet Berry Farm. You can get lost in a Texas-shaped maze of maize, test your jumping skills on the Berry Bounce or ride the barrel train around colorfully decorated, round bales of hay.
You never know what else you might find, Dan says, because Gretchen is always thinking up new ways to keep the kids entertained. About 5,000 school kids visit during each of the farm’s two main seasons: fall and spring.
Dan is the son of “Brother Max” Copeland, retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Marble Falls, who also works on the family farm. Dan’s mother, Glenna Copeland, makes the berry jam they sell.
“The farm could not run without those two,” Dan says of his parents. “They are the heart and soul of this place.”
Brother Max is the first person you see when you visit Sweet Berry Farm. He hands you your picking basket and points you in the right direction.
Dan has the inside scoop on how to get the best berries.
“Walk to the end of the row and then work your way back to the store,” Dan says. “That’s where you’ll find the best berries.”
Sweet Berry Farm is open 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. To get there, take RR 1431 west out of Marble Falls to FM 1980. Turn right at the light and go about one-and-a-quarter mile. You’ll find the entrance to Sweet Berry Farm on the right.
The spring season runs from early March to early June. The fall season of pumpkins, hay rides and pick-your-own flowers runs from the last week of September to the second week of November. For more information and admission prices, visit the Sweet Berry Farm website at www.sweetberryfarm.com.
Looking for more fun things to do in the Hill Country? Pick up a free copy of 101 Fun Things to do in the Highland Lakes. The new spring/summer 2013 issue is out. Look for your copy at local chambers of commerce and businesses in the Highland Lakes.
