Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon a Family Affair

Robert Ward’s family originally bought Ward’s Berry Farm about 30 years ago as an activity to wile away their retirement.

They never expected it to grow as big as it has.

“They fell into it, you might say,” said Ward. “They bought a big swath of acreage and my brother and I got involved when we were about college age, just helping out. We’ve been here ever since.”

Ward said he and his brother and their families have been working on the farm for years.

“Dad always had a garden and we always liked working in the garden,” he said. “It was always a challenge to get some good vegetables out of a small garden and it was really fun. So we just increased the scale a bit at a time and planted bigger. We were trying to teach ourselves the business of farming and we’ve been earning ever since.”

Ward said they plant everything they can grow in the New England climate, but they’re famous for their pick-your-own berries.  He said right about now they’re ending their strawberry run and will be moving into blueberries.

“We trey to grow just about everything that grows in Massachusetts,” he said. “Save for cranberries, apples and just a few other exceptions. Our specialties are strawberries and blueberries. We’ve got green, red, yellow and a lot of varieties of hot peppers. The numbers really start to add up as far as how many things we grow.”

The farm has its own store and kitchen, where the Wards cook their own muffins and make other foods.

“We have a pretty active kitchen,” he said. “We make our own special variety of popcorn. We grow it, cook it up and share it with out customers.”

Ward added they have started a grape arbor as well. He said it’s a lot of hard work, and he and his family have a lot of help.

“We’ve got a great group of people that work for us,” he said. “We have high school and college kids as well as full timers. The farm doesn’t run without them. We also have guys from Jamaica who come in just for the season and they are amazing contributors.”

Ward said the farm’s reputation is always important.

“We grow good stuff and treat people fairly and over the years we’ve just grown,” he said.

Ward said the farm contributes to local youth sports and other local chartable organizations.

“We mostly try to contribute to the schools,” he said.

Ward’s Berry Farm is located at 614 S Main St. and they’re open March - Oct: Mon - Fri, 9am - 7pm; Sat, Sun, 9am - 6pm. Winter hours: Wednesday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.