Schick's Strawberry Patch

05/31/2026

Had another sellout at Homestead Market on the Loop!

05/30/2026

Walk with me while I do my IPM!

05/29/2026

A significant milestone has been attained. During my second season operating a fully functional greenhouse, I have surpassed the 1-pound per plant barrier. My current harvest yield stands at 1.01 pounds per plant. Notably, I had previously accomplished this feat only once before, in 2023, when May's consistent rainfall resulted in a yield of 1.19 pounds per plant. Sustaining this productivity level for an additional two weeks would enable me to match that record.

05/29/2026

Told the QA manager to go give it a little inspection and taste test...things appear to have gotten a little sideways!

05/27/2026

Giving the strawberry patch a little summer pep talk!

05/26/2026

05/25/2026

Been working all day on the greenhouse controls. Have an army of 12 smart switches taking care of my army of strawberry plants! Custom programmed and custom dashboards deployed!

Going to add one inside my heater to control it and kick it on as needed then to build one to manage the irrigation so I can optimize timing and amount!

05/23/2026

I got asked if I was gonna have strawberries this week Homestead Market on the Loop!

05/17/2026

All cleaned up and looking good!

05/16/2026

We have officially hit Week 11 of the 2026 season, and that aggressive early start—kicking off our first major harvest back on February 23rd—is paying serious dividends. It’s a massive shift from last year’s sluggish timeline, letting us deploy hard-earned experience alongside fresh, real-time insights.
​Thanks to massive upgrades to our environmental automation, we are actively fighting to stretch this season to its absolute limit. In fact, today marks the exact anniversary of last year's total shutdown, but we are still in the game.
​Right now, the patch is sending wildly mixed signals. The plants are hinting they are nearing exhaustion, yet a persistent flush of new blooms proves they aren't ready to quit just yet. The real battlefield is the weather: these brutal 100°F temperatures are absolute misery for the divas of the fruit world. We are trapped in a high-stakes game of micro-climate management, literally fighting the triple digit temperature by running our massive evaporative cooling systems at absolute peak capacity to keep the run alive.