Henscratch Farms

We visited Henscratch Farms & Winery yesterday.  It is located in Lake Placid, FL and is a unique farming and guest experience.  It is a certified Florida Farm Winery and has 10 acres of southern muscadine & scuppernany grape varieties, a hydroponic growing system for the strawberry patch, and a highbush blueberry patch.  It also has 200 American breed laying hens that range freely among the vineyard canopy.  There are three picking seasons for the fruits that are grown on the farm.  The strawberries can be picked from December through March, blueberries from April through June and grapes are from August through September.  We walked into the country store to see how we go about picking our own strawberries.  There was a hen sitting on top of the counter where the buckets were so we grabbed a bucket, the hen didn't seem to mind, and went out to the strawberry patch. Since I have never picked fresh strawberries before it was a fun experience.  Tim and I walked through "Strawberry Fields" not sure exactly how to tell which ones to pick.  I just went by color and feel.  There were a lot of berries and we ended up picking a buckle full.  We walked around the farm and came across a hog playing in a sprinkler with some other birds hanging around.  The hens were freely walking all over the farm.  We went back to the store with the strawberries where they were weighed.  We picked just a little over a pound and a half.  There were some samples of what I thought were pickles but they ended up being pickled peppers.  They were okay, I do not care for peppers, but if I had to eat them I could if they were pickled.  The store had a large variety of speciality foods along with fresh eggs.  You can even to a wine tasting if you want.  Henscratch Farms is a fun experience and if you are in the Sebring/Lake Placid area it is worth stopping by for some fresh fruit and eggs.