The 1779 cornerstone in the barn foundation.
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Sand Hill Berries is a
family farm located in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, on the
eastern side of the Chestnut Ridge, close to the town of Mt.
Pleasant. The farm has a long history…one of the cornerstones is
carved 1779. Originally 400 acres, one of the present borders of
the farm is one of General Braddock’s routes to Fort Duquesne (Fort
Pitt) during the French and Indian War. The previous land’s
agriculture use was as a dairy farm. After the passing of the
owners, the farm was leased for almost ten years to corn and grains and
mowed for hay. Parts of it lay dormant for those years and were
overrun by wild rose and blackberry. From 1981 on, the farm was
slowly but surely brought back into production with re-seeding, lime,
potassium, and phosphorus. Goats and sheep were instrumental in
the revival of pasture land. The farm is now home to meat goats,
pygmy goats, sheep, horses, a few cows, a llama, an adopted dog, and
numerous barn cats.
In 1986, Sand Hill Berries began with 5 acres of red
raspberries and 2 acres of black raspberries. Thirteen years
later, the last of the original planting was removed in the fall and
replanted this spring with a newer variety. The mainstay crop
remains raspberries, but blackberries, red currants,
gooseberries, black currants, heirloom apples, strawberries, and a few
stone fruits, seedless grapes have been added since 1986. IN
1998, we planted six acres of black currants for processing, and in the
next few years we hope to add a consistent kiwiberry crop, blueberries,
and perhaps more grapes.
Sand Hill Berries began processing products in
1991. Preserving and baking is a family tradition.
Originally, there was no retail store and so there needed to be a use
for fruit that did not qualify for lengthy shelf life. We first
revived the recipes for Raspberry Shrub and re- named it Raspberry
Claret. All of our excess crop was turned in to claret and sold
to the Williams-Sonoma retail stores. The next year we began
making Countryfruit, our own seedless, lower in sugar jam for a local
basket company. All of our products are made here on the farm in
our own kitchen. We cook in truly small batches; for jams and
jellies, this means 5 to 8 jars per batch. Our efforts are
worthwhile, because when you sample our products you will think that it
is rare to find such fresh, intense fruit taste in jars and
bottles. A Pittsburgh food writer found our operation
interesting, and her article about us initiated a retail farm store
business where we first sold ripe fruit and jam quality fruit. At
the same time, we began making desserts with topping made from our own
fruit and selling them at southwestern Pa festivals to a public hungry
for home baking and especially for fruit pies. Many people have
often first heard of Sand Hill Berries at these events. We now
bake daily for our farm store and in 1999, we opened an outdoor
cafe for customers who would like to relax a bit before heading home.
We grow our fruit with a lot of expense and
care…raspberries demand it. We are not organic, but we use
Integrated Pest Management controls, a system of fungus and insect
control that uses as few insecticides as possible. All of
our fields are irrigated so that during drought years we will always
have some crop. Grass strips between rows prevent erosion.
The use of trellising makes for easier picking and clean berries.
We also cultivate patience, since raspberries do not reach normal
production until their third year. Our emphasis on planting is
now to find varieties that will extend the raspberry season in both
directions-early and late- so that you will be able to enjoy your
favorite fruit almost all summer.
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