ELLERBE — The World’s Largest Strawberry — or the co-owner, at least — is on the way to earning another distinction: “Sexiest NC Collard Farmer.”
Last week, the Facebook page The State You’re In posted a photo of the Berry Patch’s Lee Berry and another farmer holding collards, announcing the contest.
“Ladies, these men know what really gets yall hot & bothered. Collards. Let’s do a Sexiest NC Collard Farmer Contest!,” reads the post, asking for photos and the name of the farm.
On Wednesday, the page published another post with photos of five collard farmers from across the state.
However, this photo of Berry is a little different than the first: he appears to be nude (except for a cap) behind the mess of greens.
Other farms in the running are: Barfield Farms in Lucama; Correll Farms in Rowan County; Holland Farms in Fuquay Varina; and Daniels Farm in Wilson.
As of Thursday evening, Berry’s photo had more than 3,000 reactions — far more than any of the other contestants and more than the post itself.
The winner is expected to be picked next week.
Collards are typically grown in the spring and fall. The leafy plant in the same family as cabbage, broccoli and kale and originally came from the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea, according to a post from the North Carolina Local Food Council.
“With our mild cool seasons and well-drained soils, North Carolina is the third leading producer of collards in the nation, behind South Carolina and Georgia,” the NCLFC post reads. “This makes North Carolina one of the best places to source collards directly from local producers, farmers’ markets, and restaurants!”
According to the N.C. State Extension, collards “are one of the most popular garden vegetables in the South and are rapidly becoming a delicacy in northern states as well.”
The Berry Patch was named Best Roadside Attraction in 2019 and 2022 — and placed third in 2021 — by Strange Carolinas.
Click here to read about the most recent Roadside Attraction award.
In 2020, the Berry Patch won Finest Ice Cream Shop in Carolina Country magazine’s Carolina’s Finest contest.
Click here to read about the Carolina’s Finest contest.
The produce stand and ice cream shop gained national notoriety in 2014 when Jon Stewart, then host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” declared it as “The World’s Largest Strawberry” rather than a site in Iowa that made the same claim.
