Amish kids pick the patches and get berried in their work

The children work hard and help make the enterprise successful, the farm's owners said.
By JAYME RAMSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
MIDDLEFIELD -- Fresh strawberries are right down the road if you live in this small Trumbull County community.
Locally operated Ridgeview Farm yields 400 quarts of fresh strawberries every day. But owners Steve and Sharon Grover say 60 Amish children help to provide fresh berries for local residents and make the picking season as profitable and enjoyable as possible.
"There's a significant portion of the population that likes to buy fresh produce in season, and this type of thing provides that," Steve Grover said. "We can do the job a little better than when it's shipped across the country. It's fresher here."
The Grovers have grown strawberries on 4.5 acres for eight years, but this year was one of the toughest, Sharon Grover said. Although strawberries need only an inch of rain each week, the sky was dumping 4 inches of rain a week on the Ridgeview Farm strawberries.
Fortunately, the Grovers were ready for the rain.
"The rain is a problem, but this particular patch here is on the ridge, and it really helps because it's on the hill," Sharon Grover said. "Some of our fields are tiled as well. We have a pond, so the extra water goes in there. So when we originally planted them, we planned for that."
Bigger berries
The Grovers said the season started slow because of the rain, but the rain actually helped the berries grow bigger this year.
"Strawberries can be a profitable fruit if you have the right people to help you," Sharon Grover said. "We can't always depend on the weather, but we have a good team here, so it can be helpful."
An integral part of that team is the field supervisor. This year the Grovers hired 17-year-old Martha Miller, an Amish girl, for the position, and they are pleased with the work she has done. Martha, now in her sixth year at the Grovers' farm, relishes her new role, overseeing the groups of workers that arrive around 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. during the week.
"We just try to keep everybody moving and working together," the teenager said. "I like to pick the berries myself, but I'd rather just keep the kids going so that Sharon can get the berries ready on time."
They must hustle
Timeliness and teamwork are vital at the farm. The berries need to be picked quickly, loaded into vans in the early morning and taken to various distributors.
"We have a lot of good help, and we couldn't do this without them," Steve Grover said.
Although most of the money the Amish children earn goes back to their families, there is something for the kids in the end.
The Grovers enter each child's name into a drawing and pick out 25 names. Those 25 children win a trip to the Cleveland Zoo, an annual end-of-the-season tradition that gives the Grover family a chance to reward their hard work.
"We're very fortunate that we live in this area, or we wouldn't have the work force to get it done," Sharon Grover said. "The kids are very good workers; their parents teach them well as they are growing up. Country kids have a little different way of life than city kids."
jramson@vindy.com