Kylie and Michael Cashen on a dinner date at the strawberry farm. Photo: Supplied.
Bidgee Strawberries and Cream invites everyone to its fifth birthday party to celebrate with a true paddock-to-plate experience.
Bidgee Strawberries and Cream proprietors and husband and wife duo Michael and Kylie Cashen are ready to open their doors on Saturday (18 November) at the strawberry farm from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm for their five-year celebrations.
“It’s really exciting … it’s an achievement on the back of some fairly difficult years,” Mr Cashen said.
“I feel quite proud we’ve survived and continued to grow.
“It’s an opportunity to celebrate the team effort. There are a lot of people involved in creating our success. We want to thank our customers and the people of Wagga for getting behind this ambitious idea and allowing us to reach our dreams.
The birthday celebration will include party games, birthday cake, live music by local artist Josh, pony rides, face painting, sheep feeding and strawberry picking.
There will also be barbequed lamb, a food wagon, treats from the cafe serving cheeseboards with local honeycomb, strawberry desserts, ice cream and scones.
“We bought the price down quite a lot to try and encourage people to come along and take advantage of this opportunity when the weather is great,” Mr Cashen said. “Have some great fruit and have a good time at the farm.”
Mr Cashen said his family business had grown exponentially since its inception.
Attendees can pick strawberries on Saturday. Photo: Bidgee Strawberries and Cream.
“We’ve gone from sitting in a tent under a tree with a hired cool room on a generator to employing about 20 people,” he said.
“We’ve got a cafe in front of the shed, offer a more diversified product range every year and sell third-party products like gin, salts and honey.
“We want to continue to grow the business.”
Bidgee Strawberries produce around 25 tonnes of strawberries yearly but also lose some to weather, insects and birds.
“The bulk of it is sold in a ‘pick your own’ market. There are also pre-picked products for customers who haven’t got the time to or are not inclined to pick their own.
“We also use much of it for making ice cream, sorbets, jams, freeze-dried strawberries and strawberry gin.
The Cashens wanted to produce something financially viable and beneficial to the community on their property.
Their research for that goal, which focused on combining Mrs Cahsen’s background in food technology with Mr Cashen’s background in agriculture and horticulture, led them to a strawberry farm.
Bidgee Strawberries and Cream’s fifth birthday party will take place on Saturday (18 October) from 9:30 am until 3:30 pm at Billagha St, Wagga Wagga.
Loading ...
