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Bailey admits he hardly ever throws anything away, which proved to be an advantage in constructing the greenhouse and market. He built both from remnants left over from his construction days. However, neither looks like they are made from scraps; both are skillfully crafted, as is his house.
“I built this house about 18 years ago with my own hands,” Bailey says proudly. “Together Jo Ann and I laid all those stones in that wall. And those beams,” he says pointing to huge exposed wooden beams near the cathedral ceiling, “those beams came out of the old Coca-Cola plant in Montgomery. They are 3 ½ feet by 12 feet and are over 100 years old,” he adds. “Jo Ann helped me sand a century’s worth of paint off of them; seriously, I bet it was a quarter-inch thick. We sure used up some sand paper!”
This house seems to be the central meeting place for the Bailey’s three children and four grandchildren.
“There’s not a weekend that goes by that one of them isn’t here,” Bailey says. “We are lucky to have them all this close and are fortunate that they like to come and help out on the farm. I think they just like to help because they get to drive the customers back and forth to the fields on the John Deere Gator,” Bailey jokes.
Although weekdays are usually their least busy time, this year, with his granddaughter’s help, Bailey says they have broken several of their personal selling records on income.
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, J & J Berry Farm is open from 8 am until 7 pm. On Saturday they are open from 7 am to 7 pm, and Sundays they operate from 1 pm to 6 pm.
Needless to say, Saturday is their busiest day. Bailey claims that on Saturdays they usually have a line of customers waiting for them at the market when they arrive a little before seven. And sometime during the day there is bound to be a traffic jam, Bailey claims. Even though they work hard all year round, May through August are the busiest months because it is prime picking season.
They are mostly a “you-pick” business, but will take special orders for already-picked berries. They also reserve the closest two rows to the market for handicapped customers. This, as well as other small gestures, is clear evidence the Baileys definitely cater to their customers.
“We are what you’d call a ‘mom and pop’ type business,” Jo Ann says. “ We know most all of our customers on a first name basis, and each year we mail them out postcards about ten days prior to ripening to remind them to come back to see us.”
They also hand out brochures with what they call “working people recipes” printed on them. Jo Ann claims all ten are really quick and simple. Furthermore, they offer customers tips for preserving the berries until cooking time.
“We have several customers that will come five or six times each season. They come to buy all they can eat in a year,” Bailey says. “If they are going to freeze them, we tell them to not wash them, or they’ll stick together and put them in a zip lock bag and in the freezer right away.”
Other than contacting their regular customers, the Baileys don’t do too much more marketing. Since blueberries have been in the news recently with their beneficial health qualities, they pretty much sell themselves Bailey says.
They have, however, been trying to sell to a different type of customer.
“With us being out here in the country on a dirt road, we hardly get any accidental customers; most of our customers are regulars. This summer, though, we have been going to Eastchase behind Dillard’s for their little farmers’ market type thing,” Bailey says. “That’s a whole different client base there, but we have sold out every weekend we have gone.”
With maintaining the berry farm business and operating the farmers’ market on Saturdays, to say the Baileys are a hard-working pair is an
understatement. But as he might attest, working hard keeps you young. In fact, Bailey says they are blessed that they are |
