ROSS, Ohio -- Burwinkel Farms in Ross has been harvesting corn by hand for more than a century, and they’ve been delivering fresh produce across the Tri-State for that long, as well.
“So Grandpa started the farm in 1918. Some of my uncles were involved for a while and eventually my dad took it over,” said Karen Burwinkel, the market manager for Burwinkel Farms.
Edward "Pappy" Burwinkel started out with a small farm, and his son Richard took it over in the 1970s.
“My father-in-law started growing the sweet corn and when we started taking it over, we really liked it and enjoyed it and really didn’t have enough acres to do anything else,” Kathy Burwinkel said.
Now with 120 acres of land, the third generation of Burwinkels is running the family sweet corn business. They hire local high school and college students to help pick the corn.
“It’s super tender. Very, very sweet, really good flavor. Everybody loves the honey buns,” Bobby Burwinkel said. He’s the lead grower at Burwinkel Farms. “I love looking at old pictures and seeing how my grandparents raised the sweet corn. And, my dad hearing old stories about how they used to do it.”
The celebration marking the 100 years of the Burwinkel Farm will be held in a few weeks.
“It’s truly farm to table dinner. We’ve grown pretty much everything that’s going to be on the menu,” said Karen Burwinkel.
The family says changes at the farm have been few and far between over the years. Most recently, they use drones to check the crops. Other than that, they’ll just keep doing what they’ve been doing for the past century.
“And hopefully, it will go for another hundred years,” Kathy Burwinkel said.
Burwinkel Produce stands can be found at 11 locations across the Tri-State. Their centennial celebration will be held on July 14. Proceeds will benefit the Corpus Cristi Food Patry.
