As I mentioned before, we have found some old slides (remember them?) in the back cupboard of the early years of Beerenberg.
In 1979 Dad decided to build the current shed which is our shop today.
Old shop looking across road to where new shop is to be built mid 1970's
The official opening was early in 1980. That means our shop has been going now for exactly 30 years!
Shop early 1980's
The strawberries are okay despite the heat this week. There are less people going out picking in this weather, so at least that means there’s a plentiful supply of strawberries right now. Sally.
The strawberries are really great at the moment, so now is a good time if you’ve been thinking about coming to the farm to pick your own. I took my kids and some interstate visitors out the other day and we walked all the way to the very far end of the patch, where no one else could be bothered going, and there were berries everywhere. TIP: it’s worth walking further – everyone usually just stops at the first few rows and picks there!
Sally
PS Anthony, I just read your last post about Australia Day and the obvious question is: Why didn’t you take any sauce to your friend’s bbq? I mean, come on, that’s probably why you were invited in the first place. They purposely let their stocks run low as they knew you, Mr Beerenberg, were coming. Not only do you let them down, you complain about it. Let’s see if you get invited next year…
How good was your Australia day? Mine was nearly perfect – warm weather, invite to a friends place, beverages, BBQ and a bit of Triple J on the radio. It all made sense. But there was one incident which marred the day – they only had 1 cm of Beerenberg tomato sauce left in one bottle! All the other sauces were cheap squeezy brands. What a tragedy!
Desperate, I decided to go without sauce on my snag rather than have a squeezy brand or worse still, a generic.
My friends are great and I will overlook this incident – this time. But if you are going to have guests over, you MUST avoid insulting them with a poor quality condiment choice.
Do you know what I am saying!?
Cheers,
Anthony
Things are humming along quite well here in terms of pick your own strawberries. Right now there are enough berries out there for people to come and pick, although they are definitely not “abundant” because of the high number of people we’ve had coming through. All good though if you just want to come a pick a few punnets. Sally.
There is nothing more Australian than pulling a sickie on a Monday for a long weekend. So isn’t it great that this year you can show your pride prior to Australia day? 4 days. Sweet.
Seriously, Australia day is a great chance to have a summer BBQ and kick back. The weather is looking great.
By the way, we are more than just jam. We have 11 sauces (including 2 different BBQ sauces), the Hueys range of 4 special products (the hamburger relish!) and 4 salad dressings.
We have quite a few BBQ recipes on this site and some great suggestions from our Aussie BBQ legends, so go for it!
Anthony
Hahndorf is buzzing at the moment. School holiday shoppers and tourists are everywhere. It’s a good day out enjoying the German-style atmosphere of Australia’s oldest German town.
You can get yourself an enormous stein of beer, a pork chop with sauerkraut and for dessert a beinenstich (bee-sting) .
Adding to the excitement is a stage finish in the Tour Down Under 2010 Cycling race on Wednesday January 20th. The peleton is due to finish about 2:20pm.
Another thing that is great for the kids is the Hahndorf Farm Barn which is just up the road from our farm. They have super cute lambs and kids (baby goats).
Anthony
We’re all out of strawberries today (Tuesday) but expect the patch to be open again tomorrow for picking. It’s just been so busy, we’re all “picked out”. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Sally
2010 is here and we are now in the future.
Well, you know what I mean.
Progress be very personal. It can mean different things to different people. It could be getting richer (or making your debt smaller), it could be getting married (or finally getting divorced) or it could be making peace with the world. It is very human to feel that we are striving for something. We have an expectation that things are getting better that is so strong, we sometimes wish our lives away looking forward to things.
Putting aside money for the moment, what does progress mean to you?
Cheers
Anthony
Thanks to everyone out there for a great year. Thanks to everyone who is buying Beerenberg. Thanks for all your great feedback and your passion. We are always trying to improve and open up new products for you guys. I really appreciate your thoughts.
Quick patch update: The Strawberry picking has been better than expected this year and the brave pick-your-owners who have been venturing out into the heat have been returning with really nice big strawberries. The only problem is that we have been in short supply and the best ones go in the morning. It’s cooler then too.
Have a good night tonight and stay safe. See you in 2010!
Anthony
Managing Director, Beerenberg
