Strawberries are just the beginning at White Pine Berry Farm

Heather Graves

Staff

June 23, 2025

RIVER FALLS – After flourishing as a dairy farm for four decades, Andrew Zwald said in 2012, his parents – Greg and Irma – decided it was time for a pivot, trading dairy for berries with the launch of White Pine Berry Farm.

“My dad was looking at something else to do on the farm, and he always loved working with people – talking directly with consumers,” he said.

Starting out with strawberries, pumpkins and a corn maze, Zwald said the next 13 years brought significant growth – both in crop size and products offered.

“Strawberries take two years to mature, so we didn’t have plants ready for picking until 2013,” he said. “Then, Dad started planting blueberries and raspberries, a small orchard and a lot of different kinds of vegetables.”

It was in 2019 – when he moved back to Wisconsin and started working on the farm full-time – when Zwald said they began expanding their fall offerings.

“We added sunflowers and zinnias in 2021 and 2022, respectively,” he said. “So, we went from having one big fall event a year to having it every weekend in the fall.”

Berry busy

When he returned to the farm in 2019, Zwald said he quickly took on a lot more responsibility than he had originally anticipated because his dad became the farm director at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

“I was calling most of the shots with his advice,” he said. “For the last year and a half, we have been working together on the farm, though I still make most of the final decisions.”

As one might expect and what other strawberry growers know all too well, Zwald said, is during strawberry season, “it is very busy.”

As a certified organic grower by the Midwest Organic Services Association, Zwald said “a lot of hard work” goes into earning that certification each year.

“We have three to four acres of certified organic strawberries – depending on the year,” he said. 

Growing strawberries is a big undertaking, Zwald said, and is even more so with certified organic berries.

He said that is one of the reasons White Pine Berry Farm is among very few in the region growing more than an acre of organic U-pick strawberries. 

“As far as I know, we are one of three farms our size in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois that are certified organic,” he said. “Other farms have tried, but a lot of them have switched over to completely conventional strawberries – because it is really hard to do it at a large scale (like we do).”

Taking things one step further, at White Pine Berry Farm, Zwald said he and his team of more than 40 seasonal employees aim to go “beyond organic.”

“We strive to go beyond the requirements of organic certification on our certified-organic acres by growing most of our fruits and vegetables pesticide-free,” he said.

However, to expand its U-pick offerings, Zwald said White Pine Berry Farm decided to offer both organic certified – at the same scale the farm has always done – and conventionally grown strawberries.

“We have two acres of conventional strawberries,” he said. “We have a buffer in between our fields. Obviously, our non-organic strawberries – because we don’t have to weed as much – are at a lower price, and then there is a higher price for the ones we put more work into.”

Prices for both options – available in both U-pick and pre-picked – are available at whitepineberryfarm.com.

At White Pine Berry Farm, Zwald said pickers have an opportunity to sample the different varieties of strawberries and choose their favorites.

“Yes, there are different flavors of strawberries,” he said.

Zwald said each variety has its own unique flavor and characteristics.

The Wendy, he said, is the farm’s earliest variety and one of the sweetest, while the Jewel – the most popular – has a tangy burst of flavor.

“About half of White Pine’s acres are planted in Jewel,” he said. “The easiest picking at White Pine comes when Jewels are in season, usually near the end of June.”

The Dickens variety, Zwald said, is a new one the farm is trying on a patch near the fall raspberries.

The Valley Sunset variety, he said, has an interesting combination of sweet and tangy and is great for jam making. 

“Our latest maturing strawberry is Malwina,” he said. “If you like the flavor of Jewel, you will love the flavor of Malwina. This variety blooms when we are picking most of the others. This means the berries will be ready in July, the same time as our blueberries and raspberries.”

Last but not least, Zwald said, is the new Kent variety, which has high yields and produces large, sweet berries.

From the first day of the strawberry season to the last, Zwald said – “it’s the busiest and craziest time of year.”

“Any day of the week that we are open could be absolutely crazy,” he said. “Last year, I think our second-busiest day was a Wednesday – so you just don’t know. People will come for good strawberry pickings any time during the season.”

Blueberries, raspberries

As strawberry season winds down, Zwald said blueberry season on the farm kicks into gear.

In the beginning, he said they planted four varieties – Superior, Patriot, Northblue and St. Cloud. 

Patriots and Superiors, he said, are tall plants with berries that “pack a punch of flavor in a beautiful berry.”

Northblue, on the other hand, Zwald said, is a shorter plant, which requires pickers to open up the bush to see how many blueberries are hidden inside.

In 2015, Zwald said more Patriot and a variety called Blueray were planted.

“If you have a sweet tooth, Bluerays are for you,” he said.

White Pine’s raspberry season, Zwald said, often overlaps its blueberry season, with the Fourth of July marking the beginning of picking some years.

The farm’s summer raspberry variety – Nova – he said, has that familiar tartness of a farm-fresh raspberry.

White Pine’s fall raspberry variety – Autumn Britten – which typically ripens in August, Zwald said, is a darker red berry with a sweet aftertaste, reminiscent of the berries that grew in his parents’ yard as a kid.

The golden raspberry variety – Anne – Zwald said has a “delicious sweet flavor.”

He said the farm also grows a limited amount of black raspberries, which it uses exclusively for making black raspberry jelly – which is available at Farmer Greg’s General Store (which opened in 2020).

Fall raspberries, he said, are available all the way until the first frost, with prime picking at the end of August and early September.

Pumpkins, sunflowers, zinnias

The options at the farm during the fall months, Zwald said, have gradually grown each year.

An entire field at White Pine Berry Farm, he said, is dedicated to sunflowers and zinnias.

Zwald said the field can even be rented out for a photo shoot.

Sunflowers and zinnias, he said, are available for U-pick any time when the store is open.

Squash – butternut or buttercup – pie pumpkins and regular pumpkins are ready for picking during September and October.

White Pine’s certified organic pie pumpkin variety, Zwald said, is called Galeux d’Eysines.

Since expanding its pumpkin options, Zwald said the farm’s fields are filled each fall with families looking for that “perfect pumpkin.”

From really big – last year’s largest weighed in at 93 pounds – to Jack-o-Lantern size to toddler-carrying size, Zwald said White Pine Berry Farm has it all.

He said the fall months also bring in many field trips from neighboring schools.

“The fall weekends are very busy as well, but in a different way,” he said. “The weekdays, however, though we have field trips and some people coming in, it’s not a steadiness of strawberries, where it seems every day something is going on.”

The smooth seasonal overlaps and transitions, Zwald said, are accomplished with the help of his dad and their 40 seasonal workers.

“Our team of 40, many of whom are returning team members, makes those things possible,” he said.

Property’s white pines inspired name

Even before his dad purchased the land that is now home to White Pine Berry Farm, Zwald said he was captivated by the white pine trees on the property.

“My dad was walking through the farm before he was even considering buying it and he’s like, ‘Man, these pine trees are beautiful. You can hear the wind whispering through it,’” he said. “I am sitting under them right now for this interview (with The Business News) – and that is how he came up with the name.”

Though they contemplated naming it the Kinney Creek Berry Farm – “because it is very common around her to name things after the Kinney” – Zwald said his dad decided to name it after something found on the farm.

Weddings

Another aspect of the farm that Zwald said makes it unique is the wedding barn and the farm store.

“We have a lot of different events in the barn throughout the year – some rented out events, and some that we are hosting, like Strawberry Shortcake days, fall family days and we did a craft show last year that we plan to do again this year,” he said. “All those different things, I think, create a really cool on-farm experience that is pretty unique to us.”

Zwald said the barn can easily fit 200 people for a dinner and dance.

The 120-acre farm – complete with woods, valleys and wildflowers – he said, also serves as a great backdrop for outdoor ceremonies and pictures.

Zwald said White Pine also has a bride room located in the farm store building with its own separate entrance.

Farmer Greg’s General Store – which Zwald said was also a dream of his dad’s – has a variety of products to choose from.

In addition to jams, jellies, fudge and honey – all White Pine-made products – he said the store also carries several other locally sourced products, including salsa, maple syrup, BBQ sauce, hair clips, aprons and candles.

On event days, Zwald said the store also offers hot foods for purchase – including cheese curds, hot dogs, brats and walking tacos.

A popular item added to the food menu in 2023, he said, was cake donuts, which of course highlight the farm’s mainstays – strawberry, blueberry, pumpkin and apple cider.

A full list of items available at the store is available on the farm’s website and Facebook page.

A family affair

Though he grew up on a dairy farm instead of a berry farm, Zwald said his two children are able to witness the hard work and dedication of farm life.

“My eight-year-old is starting to get to the point that she’s more interested in the farm,” he said. “She loves standing next to the cashier and kind of imagining cashiering – but being the little assistant, helping out with some real basic jobs and whatnot. I haven’t quite got her yet pulling weeds, but soon enough.”

Someday, if either of his children wants to take over the farm, Zwald said his goal is to maintain a sustainable farm so they have that option if they so choose.

“I don’t ever want them to feel like they have to,” he said, “but I hope they stay passionate about it. Right now, my eight-year-old is very insistent that she wants to be a berry farmer when she grows up.”

Though she may not know exactly what that entails quite yet, Zwald said he hopes her passion for White Pine Berry Farm continues.

“When you have all of your friends coming out to the farm and doing a bunch of fun activities, it seems great now,” he laughed. “As you get to 14 and 16 years old and you start working on it, things change a little bit. My two-and-a-half-year-old, right now, of course, just thinks the tractors are really cool, so he likes it here, too.”