In
1964, Ned A. Cottle planted his first patch of berries in
Faison, North Carolina, for the fresh market up the East coast.
Mr. Cottle saw a demand for strawberries, and decided to
increase his production. He began growing two acres of
strawberries at a Goldsboro, North Carolina location, which was
his first "U-pick" farm. The market for "U-pick" berries
gradually increased as did Mr. Cottle's desire to meet that
need. He also noticed that there was more money and less
risk in "U-pick" farms than in growing berries to be sold
commercially because California was rapidly taking over the
commercial sales of strawberries. So he continued to plant
other "U-pick" farms in other areas, including: Kinston,
Jacksonville, Dunn, and Lumberton, North Carolina.
Ned Cottle's son, Ron Cottle, grew up
helping his father on the farms. In 1987, Ron graduated
from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina,
came back home and got into the nursery business, which is
presently known as Cottle Strawberry Nursery, Inc. The
nursery is based in Prince Edward Island, Canada and primarily
grows strawberry plants. The nursery is one of the leading
berry plant suppliers in the country. Ron also took
control of the operations of Cottle Farms, the business his
father began, along with the business of handling berries
and produce for other farms that are in alliance with Cottle
Farms. This alliance allows Cottle Farms to sell and ship
the grower's products through the company, Cottle Strawberry
Nursery.
Today Cottle Strawberry Nursery has
broadened its horizons to growing and shipping product from
other regions including other states in the United States, as
well as Mexico and Chile. We are reaching out to other
areas to insure that we have enough product to maintain a steady
supply to our customers.
