ELLERBE — It’s official: Lee Berry is the “Sexiest NC Collard Farmer.”
The Facebook page The State You’re In announced Berry, co-owner of the Berry Patch, as the winner in its online contest on Friday.
Berry was in the running against four other farmers from across the state for the title.
Other farms were: Barfield Farms in Lucama; Correll Farms in Rowan County; Holland Farms in Fuquay Varina; and Daniels Farm in Wilson.
A few days after starting the contest, The State You’re In created the website CollardsOnly.com — a parody of the dating website farmersonly.com — for voting.
According to the post, Berry received more than 60% of the total votes, with “a whopping 4700+ & counting…”
Part of Berry’s success in the contest could be due to the photo that was used: he appears to be nude (except for a Berry Patch cap) behind the mess of greens.
When asked for a comment about winning the contest, Berry replied: “It’s not the size of the collard it’s the way you display it…”
This week, the Berry Patch was also featured on a graphic from It’s a Southern Thing as one of three best road trip pit-stops in North Carolina, along with Mackeys Ferry Peanuts and Gifts in Jamesville and “any Sheetz location.”
The Berry Patch was named Best Roadside Attraction in 2019 and 2022 — and placed third in 2021 — by Strange Carolinas. In 2020, the Berry Patch won Finest Ice Cream Shop in Carolina Country magazine’s Carolina’s Finest contest.
