A workshop talking about Strawberries, tunnel tomatoes & marketing was held at Full Belly Farm on June 23rd, 2026. Full Belly Farm is a retail and wholesale vegetable, berry, and ornamentals farm operated by Sarah and Stephen Park. They purchased the well-known Norris Berry Farm in 2018 with support from the Vermont Land Trust, the Vermont Agricultural Credit Corporation, and the Farm Service Agency. The farm has 3 acres of June-bearing and 1/2 acre of everbearing strawberries, an acre of blueberries, and about a dozen acres of mixed vegetables. It also has 28,000 sq. ft. of high tunnels primarily for flowers, bedding plants, and tomatoes. Sales are through a 75 member CSA, a farm stand on premises, and wholesaling to local stores and restaurants.
Here are a few resources on the topics we discussed at the event:
Parking Lot Management
- Lively discussion as we observed the farmstand parking lot. Solutions shared included:
- Intervale Community Farm – Line striper to mark out parking spaces.
- Fully Belly – Park an example car in PYO field to help folks line up correctly.
Strawberry Management, Diseases and Pests
- Stephen finds tissue testing every two weeks with the North Carolina Agronomy Lab helpful to dial in nutrient applications. Fact sheet on tissue analysis in small fruit including links to other labs (e.g. Penn State- a good blueberry option).
- Stephen is a fan of the Seek App to help ID insects on the go in the field. The UVM Plant Diagnostic Clinic is there to help when you can’t figure out pest issues on your own.
- We had some great discussions on how farmers address different management issues. For guidelines on management and pest control recommendations, see the New England Small Fruit Management Guide.
- Slides from Stephen’s strawberry presentation at the 2025 annual VVBGA meeting.
Greenhouse and High Tunnel Management
- Stephen highly recommends automated roll up sides. NRCS funding is available for automated sides and insect netting under the 595 Pest Management Practice.
- In the propagation house they are using oat banker plants with non-pest aphids and Aphidius colemani from IPM labs with good success.
- UVM resources: Using pest fighting plants in high tunnels and Greenhouse and High Tunnel IPM
Business and Grant Resources
