n 1975, they had a vegetable garden in the back yard.
Now, the Marks family of rural Garrison produces 15 acres of strawberries each year at the Strawberry Patch, an effort that has earned them the title of Crow Wing County Farm Family of the Year.
"When we started we had a small vegetable garden, and we were always sharing what we grew," said Roger Marks. "But it just kept growing, and people started paying us for the vegetables we were giving them."
The Marks farm saw major transition in the early years as it went from that small garden to a veritable vegetable plantation that some summers would see three full acres of broccoli. But in the early 1980's Roger and his wife Delores decided to specialize on one plant. They chose strawberries, and what they now have is a year-round business that employs nearly 30 people on two farms at the peak of the summer season. One of the farms remains on the family's original farm in rural Garrison, and the other is located on a plot of land on Highway 45 south of Brainerd.
"We found that we were getting a lot of customers from Pierz and Little Falls, so we chose a location that was more convenient for them," Roger said. Currently there are nearly 3,400 people on a mailing list the family put out to provide updates on the farm.
While the farm started as a product of Roger and Delores, soon they found a pair of helpers on their hands with the births of children Dawn and Lukas. Now 18 and 16, the younger Marks find themselves actively involved in the operation of the strawberry business.
With a mailing list of nearly 3,400, people throughout the area enjoy the homegrown strawberries of the Marks family, recently chosen the Crow Wing County Farm Family of the Year.
"Lukas has always been the hands-on type who worked on the labor side, while Dawn was the one showing her people skills," Delores said.
She cited each of her children as being major help in keeping the farm together. Until last year, Dawn was assigned phone duty, in which she would stay in the house and handle the nearly 2,400 calls that annually come during the four weeks of peak season.
"You can imagine that being stuck inside giving directions to the fields and answering questions about prices is not the most exciting way for a person to spend her summers," Delores said.
Roger said Lukas has become increasingly helpful in keeping the farm in smooth running shape.
"Most people do this as a full-time job, so they do all the work by hand," said Roger, who joins Doris in working nearly full time at the Brainerd Regional Human Services Center. He said because of the odd hours they are able to devote to the farm, the creation of time saving equipment became a necessity.
"We do a lot of cutting things apart and putting them back together, in the trial and error method until we find what works," He said.
With so many people coming through their lives as customers and as workers, the other product that appears to sprout abundant from the venture is a sense of family.
"Since we started with that small garden, a lot of these people really watched our kids grow up," said Delores. "I really look at our customers and staff as members of our extended family."
