About Us ...
Huebner Christmas Tree Farm began in January 2005, after Steve retired as Leon County Extension Agent. Carole retired from the Centerville News a couple years later, and our first sales season was November/December 2008. We grew and marketed Virginia Pines, Leyland Cypress and Blue Ice Arizona Cypress, plus brought in pre-cut Frazer Firs from North Carolina. Our shop also offered a variety of ornaments, decorations, gift items, decorated wreaths, jelly, honey, pecans and more. After the severe drought of 2011, when deer did substantial damage to our young Leylands, we put up a deer-proof fence around one of our fields, knowing the area could be used for other purposes in the future. A few years later we decided to diversity – and that was the beginning of Huebner Berry Patch & Fruit Farm.
In 2015 we planted 750 feet of blackberries at the top of the fenced field, utilizing 3 varieties: Kiowa, Ouachita & Natchez (one thorned & 2 thornless). Since then, we’ve added Osage, Caddo and Ponca, all thornless University of Arkansas releases.
In 2016 we planted the first peach and plum tress in the lower 3 rows of the fenced field. We harvested peaches from those first trees in 2018, selling most at the farm and at the Centerville Farmers Market. We added more trees and varieties over several years, including some lower chill hour peaches. We have fought drought, extreme heat, storms, Winter Storm Uri, and late freezes. We lost our entire peach and plum crops in 2022 & 2023 due to late freezes, and lost several trees from last summer’s wind storm, extreme temperatures and drought.
After the 2019 Christmas sales season we made the difficult decision to retire from the Christmas tree farm business. Growing Christmas trees is very labor-intensive. Thus, we can devote more time to the fruit orchard, plus have a little extra time for family and camping.
Huebner Berry Patch offers Pick-Your-Own Blackberries
– sold by the pound. We also have pre-picked blackberries, in quart clamshells. The pre-picked berries are a mix of the varieties currently ripe. If you want pre-picked berries, please call in advance or place an order – to make sure they’re available when you come. Peaches and plums will be pre-picked, and available for sale as they ripen.
We are proud to say our fruit farm is a family-friendly destination.
We have two sizes of picking buckets for berries, including a small one for kids. We encourage customers to “taste test” the different varieties of berries – they all have a slightly different flavor & sweetness. For example: although the berries are smaller, the Osage has a nice rich taste and retains its sweetness.
Blackberries usually are ready for picking around the end of May, and continue until the end of June or up to July 4th (depending on weather). Peaches begin ripening in early to mid-June, through July, depending on variety & weather conditions. Plums usually ripen in early June.
Please Note:
No pets are allowed in the fruit orchard, due to sanitary restrictions. If you must bring your pet/dog, please be prepared to leave him or her in your vehicle, or tied or crated inside the barn.
Our shop features Carole’s homemade jams, jelly, and syrup. Also, local honey, olive oil from a Madison County farm, and a few gift items.
We also have a few muscadine grape vines, but so far Carole has used them for muscadine jelly. As they mature, we may have muscadines to sell in late summer. The Day Tripper tv show was at our farm last summer, when they were doing a feature on Centerville. We were honored to have Chet and his crew here, and that episode has recently been shown on PBS stations around the state.
