It’s strawberry time!

Walter, Theresa, Maria, Lydia, Clara and Emmett – the fourth generation of Strawberry pickers (and perhaps Strawberry farmers one day) – sit in a patch on the Walch family farm just south of Stratford.

It’s strawberry time at the Walch family farm just minutes south of Stratford on Highway 119. Watch for the signs and the flag welcoming everyone to their corner of Perth County.

The Walch family grows seven different varieties so their berry season will last longer and can be picked for a longer duration than ever before.

The recent moisture was welcoming to make this year’s strawberries even sweeter.

This year marks their 50th anniversary growing strawberries and if anyone knows how to grow them, Birgit Walch and her family surely does. 

In a recent visit to the Walch farm, Birgit explained how the family got started in growing strawberries.

She and her husband Augustin started their strawberry business in Heidelberg, Germany in 1975 with her parents, and in the mid-‘80s emigrated to Canada and settled in Downie Township, a short distance south of Stratford.

By studying the extremely fertile land in the area, they knew the soil would be right for strawberries.

Since she and husband Augustin had children, who they wanted to keep busy and learn a great work ethic as they had, and also to help them earn some money for their education, they continued to expand and add even more acres of strawberries.

In 1993, they started some strawberry patches on their farms on Highway 19 (now 119), an ideal location to market directly to area consumers.

Customers can pick their own or buy those that are already picked and ready to eat.

They also have two other locations nearby at 2255 Fisher-Hallman Road in Kitchener and 780 Fountain Street in Cambridge. 

With six grandchildren and another on the way, Birgit hopes they will be the fourth generation to grow and sell strawberries in the Perth and Waterloo County areas.