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Better Farming
September 2016
Farm News First >
BetterFarming.com25
FIELD
TRIP
Members of the Herrle family pose around a stagecoach built by family patriarch
Howard (standing centre) as a woodworking project in 2001. From left: Karen
Gingerich (company bookkeeper) and her brother, James (field production and
harvests); his wife, Michelle (human resources and communications); Country
Farm Market founder and fourth generation Herrle, Howard; Alison Herrle-Braun
(14), her sister, Josephine (12); and the sisters’ parents, Joanne (scheduling and
bakery management and daughter to Howard) and Trevor Herrle-Braun (manager
of social media and produce section).
James guides a freshly picked batch of cobs into a bin for sale at the market, a
task that is done hourly on a typical weekend. Herrle’s grows twelve varieties of
sweet corn which take 70 to 80 days to mature. The crop is planted from
mid-April to mid-July to ensure supplies last until Thanksgiving, and sometimes,
weather permitting, until closing on October 31.
Lois Hall of Heidelberg picks out three
dozen ears of corn a few hours before
catching a flight to visit her son in
Thunder Bay. She recalls her family
regularly visiting the Herrle garage for
corn when her children were young.
Her son is hosting a family reunion and
asked Lois to fly in with three dozen
ears – which she knows from experi-
ence is the exact amount that will fit in
her suitcase.
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