Senoia, GA |

For Patti and her husband, retirement didn’t mean slowing down—it meant digging in. In 2016, the couple left Tennessee for a quiet farm in Georgia, ready for a new chapter. What they found on their newly purchased property changed their lives: 100 blueberry bushes already in the ground.

“In 2016, my husband retires as an airline pilot and we decided, well, what are we going to do now?” says Patti Laney, co-owner of Beak and Berry Farm. “We thought, well, let’s buy a farm. And we found this beautiful little farm in Georgia… and we thought, oh cool, we can sell blueberries.”

That initial inspiration quickly grew into something more. After finding success with blueberries, the couple expanded to strawberries—and later blackberries—clearing three acres of wooded land to plant more fruit. The blackberries, in particular, have become a favorite among customers.

“We’ve been amazed at the response of people to blackberries,” Patti says. “People seem to like that they can come and get clean, healthy berries here.”

When it comes to picking the best berries, Patti offers a surprising tip: “If they’re bright and shiny, they’re not quite ripe yet. If it has a dull finish to it, that’s a ripe, sweet berry.”

Though Patti now sounds like a seasoned grower, she credits much of their success to a less traditional form of training.

“We tell people that we are proud agriculture graduates of YouTube University,” she laughs. “We’ve learned from the University of Georgia Extension Service, Farm Bureau, and of course, just learning through experience. We’ve learned that it takes patience, we’ve learned to respect Mother Nature… sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t.”

Their U-Pick operation, Beak and Berry Farm, has evolved into a place that not only provides fresh fruit, but also cultivates a sense of community. At the end of the season, customers are even invited to dig up leftover strawberry plants to take home in exchange for a donation to the I-58 food mission.

And for the Laneys, what started as a second career has become something far more meaningful.

“Well, I mean, it’s great to have fruit and we love having that,” Patti says. “But just the people that come here—it’s just so fun to meet people and see that they’re getting healthy, delicious stuff to take home. It’s been a blast. We said we’ll do this until it’s not fun anymore.”

By: Damon Jones