Columbia (WACH)— Farming is a family affair for Joy Cottle. Always has been. And you don't have to go far to get a peek at the family business.
“Big Momma always made sure everything was done just right,” says Joy Cottle, owner of the Cottle Strawberry Farm on Trotter Road in Lower Richland.
Joy is the third generation of Cottles to work a Strawberry farm in Columbia, and is extremely proud, not only of the ten acres that make up the “You Pick It” farm, but the lineage that her family name represents.
“We do blackberries, blueberries, raspberries…” Joy says of the other members of her namesake, but “here in Columbia, I just do the strawberries.”
Each spring, Joy, who lives in Florence ten months of the year, moves to Columbia to oversee the strawberry season. And when we say moves to the area, we mean lives at the field in an RV. Along with her farm manager, Jennifer Jordan, Joy opend the rows of carefully cultivated strawberries to the public for a unique serve yourself experience.
Joy and Jennifer welcome individuals who want to enjoy the natural flavor and experience of certified South Carolina growers, families, and of course civic, church, and school groups who want to have a different kind of travel experience.
If you want the chance to taste a bright red strawberry fresh picked with your own fingers, the window is rather small, lasting only until late May most years, but “it depends on the weather" according to Joy.
If your travels find you looking for something different to do on a bright weekday morning, or lazy weekend afternoon, take a short trip to the Cottle Strawberry Farm, to either pick your own basket, or simply select a basket of the fresh picked variety waiting for you when you drive in.
And Jennifer wants to let you know not to pick the green ones.
(This story courtesy of WACH Fox Good Day Columbia contributor Tyler Ryan.)
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