Hundreds of people flood Ottawa farms for strawberry festival

BLOOMINGDALE, GA (WTOC) -One by one people picked out pounds of strawberries at this years Ottawa Farms strawberry festival, and for some it was a first for the whole family.

“We saw it on social media yesterday and we said hey that’s just a few minutes down the road let’s go check it out and she loves strawberries so that was definitely a factor,” said Adam and Courtney Hart.

They said supporting local businesses is what it’s all about.

“It’s a local farm and they have you pick fields throughout the year so we wanted to support the festival and give our money to a local business," said the Harts. "We like to have fun stuff to do near home and the only way to do that is to come out and support and make it worth their while, so we try to get out and make it happen.”

The festival even attracted people from counties as well.

“It’s good to support the local farmers because that’s the way of life and that’s the way they make their living and it’s fresh food for us and our families,” said Earl Anderson of Statesboro. “It’s a great thing that they have this here in Chatham County and we also have it in other counties close by and we visit those as well.”

For Ottawa Strawberry farm owner Pete Waller he said he’s just trying to keep the tradition going.

“No farmers no food is right and there’s very few farmers left,” Waller said "In fact I’m the last farm in the county, we started out in 1873 and I’m the third generation here.

Waller said for him, it’s an opportunity to meet new people and educate them on where their food comes from.

“It gives our people a good opportunity to see what agriculture is all about and where their food comes from, it doesn’t come from the grocery store downtown, it comes off of the farm," said Waller.

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