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RIPE FOR THE PICKING: Thompson Farm welcomes strawberry lovers on Thursday

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BRISTOL, Wis. — Whether you’re a young taste tester or a veteran strawberry picker, there’s nothing like opening day at Thompson Farm in Bristol.

Lisa Walker of Brown Deer was one of the farm’s first customers on Thursday.

Lisa Walker
Lisa Walker, Brown Deer and Mary O’Keane, Cedarburg.

“These are sweet and they’re fresh and there’s no better thing than picking your own produce,” Walker said.

Scott Thompson is a seventh-generation strawberry farmer and owner of Thompson Farm. His great, great-grandparents grew strawberries and shipped them on barges to the Chicago farmers markets.

Scott Thompson
Thompson Farm was founded in 1928 in Kenosha County. Bristol native Scott Thompson is a seventh-generation strawberry farmer. It was opening day on Thursday with a line of cars waiting to pick their own strawberries.

“Then in about the mid-60s we had a heat wave and they couldn’t get them all picked,” Thompson said. “So they went down to the local radio station and said come on out and pick your own strawberries. It was a big hit.”

Chad Provencher drove over the state line from Naperville, Illinois to be one of the first customers on opening day.

“Quite honestly, the way they have their strawberries out here, I’ve never seen anything better,” Provencher said. “I’ve been all over the country (picking strawberries) and this is amazing.”

Chad Provencher
Chad Provencher, Naperville, Ill.

Mary O’Keane of Cedarburg picks enough to share.

“I love to make strawberry jam and jelly,” O’Keane said. “So I pick a lot so I can them and give them to my neighbors.”

This year’s crop produced exceptionally sweet strawberries, according to Provencher.

“The ones you get in the store, it’s not even comparable,” Provencher said. “They’re not even the same fruit I think.”

Thompson Strawberry Farm


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