It’s officially spring! Which means its time to make a trip to Lewis Nursery and Farms! Luckily their 2018 opening is just around the corner. Lewis Farms Market opens for the 2018 season on Saturday, March 24th at 10am. They will open with winter berries, plants and of course, their famous ice cream! They plan to start “U-picking” at the location on Gordon Road on Wednesday, March 28th; so mark your calendars!
Lewis Nursery and Farms is a third generation family farm located in Rocky Point, NC, about 18 miles north of Wilmington. The present day farm was started in 1953 by Everette Lewis when he bought his uncle’s farm next to the family farm of his parents. Everette returned to farming after serving in the army and receiving his master’s degree in Plant Pathology from NC State. Everette’s son Cal joined his father in 1982 after studying horticulture at NC State and now manages the farm.
Lewis Farms is proud of its heritage, diversity, and family-farming tradition, but progressive and innovative thinking has allowed Everette and Cal Lewis to discover exciting production methods over the years. Everette was the first to introduce “plastic culture” farming to NC in the mid-1960s and the first to propagate registered and certified strawberry plants in NC beginning in the 1950s. Today, Lewis Farms is the first to produce commercial strawberries and blackberries under protected tunnels in NC.
Over the past 60 years, Lewis Farms has diversified from growing strawberries and strawberry plants, to the added production of blueberries and blackberries. Present day production includes 20 acres of strawberry nursery plants, 350 acres of blueberries, 20 acres of blackberries, 100 acres of standard spring strawberries, and 20 acres of “tunnel grown” winter strawberries. In addition to wholesale crops, Lewis farms also has seasonal retail locations. The signature location on Gordon Road in Wilmington features “pick your own” strawberries, blueberries and blackberries as well as bedding plants, hanging baskets, and of course their famous homemade ice cream using their own fruit! There is another “pick your own” strawberry farm in Castle Hayne as well as two satellite stands providing “ready picked” seasonal berries.
You can find Lewis Nursery and Farms produce at the following locations:
Wholesale:
3500 NC Hwy. 133
Rocky Point, NC 28457
Phone: 910-675-2394
Retail:
6517 Gordon Road
Wilmington, NC 28411
Phone: 910-452-9659
For more information, visit them online at www.lewisfarms.com or visit their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LewisNurseryandFarms.
Photography by Lauren Manship