ASHBERN FARMS began in 2016 and with 20 years of experience between the four founders, Brendon and Ashleigh Hoyle and Jon and Bernadine Carmichael, you can bet you’ll get the sweetest and freshest strawberries on the block.
The team at Ashbern pride themselves on running a tight ship. Strawberries are picked in the field, put straight in the cold room and delivered that night. “Getting the crop into the cold room as fast as possible will optimise the shelf life.” Says co-founder Brendon “The team make a conscious effort to grow a certain amount, because of this they’re always garden-fresh!”
Soil health, variety testing and integrated pest management all come into what the team do to at Ashburn. “Soil health and soil nutrients are very critical to us because it produces the crop. We do soil tests and leaf test and look at what the crop is using and what the crop is lacking, and then we only apply what they need.” Explains Brendon.
“Planting a cover crop in the summer and rotating the crops just to try put back into the soil, carbon and organic matter is also very important, and we’re quite big on ensuring that happens.” Says Brendon.
Ashbern adopts influential, integrated pest management. “Instead of relying on chemicals, we use good bugs to tackle the bad bugs. For example, if we have mite issues, we would introduce and spread a predator mite in the crop, until the original mite is out. This is working really well, and we’re doing it successfully on several fronts at the farm.” Says Brendon.
Because of the vital farming components employed at Ashburn farms, you’re guaranteed is juicy and flavoursome strawberries and they’re very passionate about getting it right. “It’s very rewarding to get everything aligned so that we end up with something as close to perfect as possible. There are so many factors that come into it, and our goal is to ensure the strawberries taste good and look good. That’s when we feel like we’re winning!” Says Ashleigh, co-founder.
There are two Ashbern farms that these delicious strawberries are grown on. One near the Glass House Mountains on the Sunshine Coast for their winter crop, and then one at Stanthorpe for their summer crop. Suncoast feels confident supplying Ashbern Farms strawberries and we encourage chefs to get creative.
“Suncoast Fresh is the middle link for us.” Says co-founder Ashleigh.
If you’re yet to lay your hands on these delicious strawberries, don’t wait, now is the perfect time to enjoy!
