Miracle in Congo leads to miracle strawberries in Dodge Center

For Barry and Marybeth Mosier of Dodge Center just being alive is a miracle so when they decided to start a strawberry farm it was a natural to call it the Miracle Strawberry Farm.
Seven years ago, while serving as missionaries in Africa, the Mosier’s and two of their children, April, 14, and Andrew, three, were in a plane crash in the Congo.
Forty-seven people died and 100 others were injured, Mosier said, but all four of them escaped the burning plane before it exploded. Andrew broke his leg but otherwise the family was unscathed.
“That was a horrible day,” Mosier recalled.
“When we were missionaries, we knew many people were praying four our safety,” he said. “When I saw the charred wreckage of that plane the next day, I knew that the Lord miraculously saved our lives and still had more work for us to do. We praise God every day to be alive.”
After 11 years in Africa the Mosier’s returned to Dodge Center four years ago.
Barry Mosier now has a CPA business in Kasson and said that after a busy winter of preparing tax returns for clients he needs a change in the spring and was looking for a way to get out of the office for a while.
The family had also attempted to garden while in Africa but with little success, Marybeth Mosier said.
Which leads to the strawberries.
The Mosier’s have a friend who lives east of Rochester and grows strawberries and asparagus. The friend pointed out that no one in Dodge County was growing these crops for sale.
Most everyone likes strawberries, the first fruit of the season. And asparagus is the first vegetable of the season, Mosier reasoned.
After the garden disasters in Africa, he said, it was so much fun for the couple to garden back in America.
The Mosier’s live on 50 acres just three miles outside of Dodge Center and when they put it all together Miracle Strawberry Farm was born last year.
“Marybeth and I thought it would be fun to grow these first fruits and vegetables of the season,” Mosier said. “We plan to grow them with as natural methods as possible. Marybeth is very particular about what is served on our own table and we want to offer people some of the same safe home grown foods that we enjoy.”
Currently there are just under three acres of strawberries and two-and-a-quarter acres of asparagus that were planted last year.
“This is our very first year for picking strawberries,” Marybeth Mosier said. “Next year the asparagus will be in full production.”
Although there will no asparagus for sale this year, the Mosier’s expect that the strawberries will be ready to pick by the middle of June. The farm, located at 60687 205th Ave., Dodge Center, offers the opportunity to pick your own berries or buy pre-picked berries.
Picking pails and boxes for taking the berries home will be provided. Families are welcome, Mosier said, but children do need to be supervised.
Hours will be 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Friday.
They also plan to expand their operation for next year. The Mosier’s are planning to have approximately 3 ½ acres of strawberries and 4 ½ acres the year after that.
Next May and early June the asparagus should also be ready.
“Last year when Marybeth suggested that we plant 11,000 asparagus seeds in the field, besides the 14,000 roots we had already planted, I thought she was crazy,” Barry Mosier said. “I knew that we would have to transplant by shovel all those baby roots into deeper trenches this spring. Well this spring I got a shock when I saw the massive root systems the Lord had grown in just one year from those seeds. These plants from seed will clearly out produce the roots we bought.”
Miracle Strawberry Farm is a family affair, Mosier said.