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“The Berry Patch is an amazing farm. The owners are innovators. They raise a wide variety of berries throughout the season. They are growing so many different melons, flowers and tomatoes.
The farm is the leader in pesticide-free berry production in the nation. This is the time to be visiting! The farm has a wide variety of melons in addition to tomatoes, squashes and berries.”
WAMC Northeast Public Radio Vox Pop Live Call-in Show
“Dale-Ila is the owner/operator of The Berry Patch, a first generation diversified farm in Stephentown NY. She grows pesticide-free blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries as well as diversified vegetable crops and cut flowers. Prior to starting The Berry Patch she was a national award winning Vegetable Specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension. She is also the editor and primary author of the Pumpkin Production Guide, which received national awards from three professional societies, including the American Society for Horticultural Science.”
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Rural Intelligence The Berry Patch: Small Local Farm Invents New Way to Exclude Major Pest / by Jamie Larson 08.13.22
”Ask your nearest berry farmer what the bane of their existence looks like these days and they’ll tell you it’s an ugly little fruit fly called the Spotted Wing Drosophila.
An infestation of the insects, which hail from Southeast Asia, hit the Berkshires and Hudson Valley in 2012, claiming 40% of Dale Ila Riggs's blueberry crop. Riggs has run The Berry Patch in Stephentown, New York with her husband Don Miles for 25 years.”
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The Berkshire Edge Sustainable Berkshires: The Berry Patch and Wyomanock Farm ‘Celebrate Stephentown’
by Barbara Zheutlin 08.17.18
“The Berry Patch has created what it calls a “free choice CSA,” which means that, when a person buys a share in the Berry Patch, the CSA dollars can be applied any time and in any amount to the purchase of fruits, produce and products in the farm’s store and at its Troy Farmers Market booth.
“As farmers who supply premium-quality berries and vegetables to consumers, we hope to help create long-term memories of fantastic meals and food experiences for our customers.”
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Scientia Dale-Ila Riggs | Protecting Berry Crops from Invasive Pests with Exclusion Netting 01.11.23
“Berry crops are vulnerable to numerous invasive pests, including spotted wing drosophila. These fruit flies have caused significant losses for farmers growing berries in different parts of the US, Asia, and Europe. A few years ago, Dale-Ila Riggs, the owner and operator of The Berry Patch, developed and implemented a series of exclusion netting systems that can effectively protect berry crops from spotted wing drosophila and other environmental threats, reducing the need for chemical pesticides.”
