Summer is the best time to celebrate a milestone, though I am definitely biased. I was born at the tail end of strawberry season, and picking the vibrant fruits at local farms was a birthday tradition throughout my childhood. I have fond memories of kneeling in the sun-drenched rows, navigating the ternate leaves to find rosy fruits, and picking and sampling until my hands were sticky and lips stained red—the quintessence of summer.
Our area is chock-full of berry and flower farms, and we’ve compiled a list of area destinations. Whether you’re aiming to catch strawberry season starting in mid-June, blueberries and cherries in late July or raspberries and blackberries in August, we hope you’ll visit local farms to find the freshest produce from passionate growers.
Berry picking tops my summer bucket list, and there’s a plethora of “bests” to find in our Best of St. Croix Valley readers’ choice poll. The all-new, streamlined voting process went live in February, and we shared the finalists on our website in March. We’re excited to share the results of your votes. Thank you for participating and celebrating the people and businesses that make this community shine!
On that note, I hope you’ll visit my Editor’s Picks to hear from five fantastic community members who are bringing light and beauty to our region with their passions. These humans come from diverse backgrounds and generations; in reading their stories, I hope you can see how important it is to find common ground—to root ourselves alongside those who are different from us, so we can share our strengths and support each other. It’s a lesson that nature teaches us, Chrystal A. Odin of Osceola, Wisconsin, shares. It’s up to us to listen.
I hope you have a summer of abundance!
