This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Gieringer’s Family Orchard & Berry Farm sits in the far southwest corner of Johnson County, at Edgerton, and runs one of the longest u-pick calendars in the metro — strawberries in May, blueberries in June, blackberries and peaches through midsummer, apples from late August, pumpkins into October. Frank and Melanie Gieringer bought an overgrown farm in 2001 and spent two years bulldozing and building a pond before putting peach trees in the ground in 2004. Their son Brice came back to the farm full time in 2012, and the strawberries were his answer to his father’s instruction to find something profitable to grow.

Description

Gieringer’s Family Orchard & Berry Farm is a u-pick farm at 39345 W 183rd Street in Edgerton, Kansas, in the southwest corner of Johnson County — the rural end of the county, well past the suburban edge.12 What distinguishes it among metro u-pick operations is the length and continuity of its season: most orchards in the region are a fall proposition, while Gieringer’s opens in May and picks something nearly every week through October.

The calendar runs strawberries in May, blueberries in June, blackberries from mid or late June into July, peaches from late June through August, apples from late August into October and occasionally early November, and pumpkins from late September through October.1 Tomatoes are grown under high tunnels and sweet corn is in the rotation as well.3

The farm market sells the farm’s own produce alongside local goods — jams, jellies, jarred items, frozen pies, local honey — and the concessions that make a picking trip an outing: donuts, ice cream, and slushees. Mums come in with the pumpkins in season.1

The attraction side is deliberately modest and agriculture-flavored. There is a corn maze carrying educational signage, an apple launcher, and a corn pit, plus an annual Butterfly Festival in September.12 These are additions to a working fruit farm rather than the point of it.

Goods and services

  • U-pick strawberries — May1
  • U-pick blueberries — June1
  • U-pick blackberries — mid/late June through July1
  • U-pick peaches — late June through August1
  • U-pick apples — late August through October, sometimes into early November1
  • Pumpkins — late September through October1
  • High-tunnel tomatoes and sweet corn3
  • Farm market — homegrown and local produce, mums in season, jams, jellies, jarred goods, frozen pies, local honey1
  • Donuts, ice cream and slushees1
  • Corn maze with educational signage2
  • Apple launcher and corn pit2
  • Butterfly Festival — annual, in September1

History

Frank and Melanie Gieringer started the operation in the spring of 2001.3 The farm they bought was overgrown, and the first two years went into bulldozing trees and building a pond before anything could be planted.23 Peach trees went in in 2004 — planted, by Frank Gieringer’s own account, on a whim, as he looked for a new farming challenge — and the first peach crop came off that same period.23

The move into fruit was a departure. Frank Gieringer had grown up in traditional row crops and livestock and had not imagined running a u-pick farm and agritourism destination.3

The second phase began in 2012, when the Gieringers’ son Brice returned to the farm full time to help expand the operation.3 Frank set him the task of finding something profitable to grow, and Brice’s answer was strawberries — the crop that now opens the farm’s season each May.2 Blackberries, blueberries, apples, high-tunnel tomatoes, sweet corn and pumpkins were added across the same stretch of years.23 The farm is today owned and operated by Frank, Melanie and Brice Gieringer together.2

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Gieringer’s Family Farm — official site — asserts: address 39345 W 183rd St, Edgerton, Kansas 66021; phone (913) 893-9626; u-pick calendar of strawberries May, blueberries June, blackberries mid/late June-July, peaches late June-August, apples late August-October and sometimes early November, pumpkins late September-October; farm market carrying homegrown and local produce, pumpkins and mums in season, jams, jellies, jarred items, frozen pies, local honey, donuts, ice cream and slushees; annual Butterfly Festival in September; fall pumpkin patch. This is the primary currently-operating proof — the site publishes a live seasonal market status. (Fetched 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  2. Kansas Living Magazine (Kansas Farm Bureau) — “Visit Gieringer’s Family Orchard and Berry Farm for fresh fruit and fun,” 30 July 2025 — asserts: “The Johnson County farm is owned and operated by Frank and Melanie Gieringer and their son, Brice.”; the farm was founded in 2001; the property was overgrown when purchased and the first two years went to bulldozing trees and constructing a pond; peach trees were planted in 2004 on a whim as Frank sought a new farming challenge; Brice returned to the farm in 2012 and was tasked with finding something profitable to grow, which led to strawberries; crops added over time include strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples and pumpkins; attractions include a corn maze with educational signage, an apple launcher and a corn pit, with u-pick from May through October. Primary source for the founding and ownership facts. (Fetched 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  3. Shop Kansas Farms (Kansas Farm Bureau) — Gieringer’s Family Farm producer listing — asserts: Frank and Melanie Gieringer started Gieringer’s Orchard in the spring of 2001; the farm was overgrown when bought and the first two years went to bulldozing trees and building a pond; peach trees were planted and the first peach crop harvested in 2004; Frank grew up with traditional row crops and livestock and did not expect to run a u-pick and agritourism farm; blackberries, strawberries, high-tunnel tomato production, sweet corn and pumpkins were added over the years; son Brice returned to the farm full time in 2012 to help expand the family operation; the farm is family owned and located in the southwest corner of Johnson County, Kansas. (Content accessed via search-surfaced summary; see method note.) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

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On the record — ks.city/registry/gieringers-family-orchard-and-berry-farm · record updated 2026-08-14