Huge honeyberry harvest marks Farm LoLa’s 10th anniversary

By HOWIE HANSON
Editor & Publisher

WRENSHALL, Minn. — A decade after Jason Amundsen planted his first honeyberry bushes on a quiet patch of Carlton County farmland, Farm LoLa is celebrating its 10th season with a booming crop that’s turning heads across the region. The farm’s 8,000 bushes are producing so heavily this summer that some plants are yielding up to six pounds of fruit.

“We’ve got bushes so loaded it can take an hour just to pick one,” said Amundsen, who owns the farm with his wife, Lucie. “It’s wonderful to finally have enough berries to stay open to the public through all of July. For years, it was a guessing game. And of course, there’s always that farmer’s worry — will we actually get it all off the fields before something goes wrong?”

Finding help hasn’t gotten any easier, so Farm LoLa relies on pick-your-own customers, who have become the lifeblood of its harvest season. Families from the Twin Ports, Twin Cities and beyond pour in for honeyberries, blueberries and the farm’s small strawberry plots.

Many also come for the experience itself: greeting Robin the farm dog, watching the famous Locally Laid hens wander by, and exploring the quirky AirBnBAWKS — bunkhouses with glass walls separating visitors from a coop full of hens, which Amundsen calls “a living hen aquarium.”

Honeyberries remain a curiosity for most Americans, though they’re popular across Japan, Russia, Scotland and Canada. Amundsen describes their taste as “like a blueberry fell in love with a Sweet Tart,” perfect for fresh snacking, jams, sauces, baking, wine or beer.

Farm LoLa, named for all of its hens — “Lo” for Locally, “La” for Laid — is open daily from 8 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. at 798 Cemetery Road in Wrenshall.

Watching kids with berry-streaked faces chasing chickens, Amundsen smiled. “It’s everything we hoped this place could be when we stuck those first little bushes in the ground.”