Fresh berries are a treat, especially if you pick them yourself. But few of us nurture backyard patches. Instead, we haunt farmers’ markets, scoring plump berries to lap up with cream or turn into cobblers and pies. Fruit lovers who yearn for myriad, top-quality choices might also consider a trip to Sand Hill Berries in the foothills of the Laurel Mountains.

 

At Sand Hill, you’ll find red and yellow raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, red and black currants, kiwi berries, persimmons, pears, sour cherries, native plums, figs, and heritage apples, along with homemade baked goods made from the bounty of berries. You also can explore the working farm and its sister winery, Greendance.

 

Sand Hill’s story began in 1981 when sisters Susan Lynn and Amy Schilling and their husbands, Rick and Rob, all working professionals (doctor, physicist, teacher, car dealer), decided to revitalize an abandoned 188-acre farm on the edge of Mount Pleasant. The historic farm borders General Braddock’s 1775 route to Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War. Braddock slept there for two nights.

 

The first order of business was planting sugar maples that now create a golden canopy every fall. Next was staining the weathered 1779 barn and turning the dilapidated farmhouse into a home for Rick, Susan, and their three children. They added goats to tame the lawn, and eventually, chickens, horses, sheep, and free-range guinea fowl. Next step? Forty years as entrepreneurs.

 

They planted their first crop, raspberries, in 1986. Although Rick had worked on his grandfather’s farm, they had a lot to learn. Early on, the couples relied on help from their four children, two nephews, and parents to cultivate, harvest, and package the goods. The children loved being raised close to the land, even though they had to work. Susan says: “They didn’t have a leisurely summer, but it was a much more interesting, varied summer than most kids have.”

 

Today Sand Hill has employees, mostly teens and retirees, but it remains a hands-on family business sustained by heart, persistence, and patience to deal with pests, deer, weather, irrigation, and other travails. But the biggest ongoing challenge, Susan says, “is the fact that a small farm with emphasis on value-added products and retail interaction will never be a 40-hour-a-week job. It’s difficult to find time for oneself.”

 

So why do it? “What we grow has a positive influence on the quality of life of our customers,” she says, taking satisfaction in enhancing customers’ appreciation of farming, mentoring teenagers in their first jobs, and boosting their community’s economy and pride.

 

Raspberries remain Sand Hill’s signature crop, but their offerings have vastly expanded. In 1999, they added a farm store, selling fresh and frozen homemade pies, cheesecakes, cookies, jams, and jellies. Realizing visitors wanted more than a quick stop, they opened an outdoor dessert café with music and began exploring other ways for guests to enjoy the farm, including adding a winery with vintages made from their own fruit.

 

Greendance, the winery at Sand Hill, debuted in 2007. With the help of a professional winemaker, the wine is made and bottled on-site using homegrown hybrid vinifera grapes. In addition to estate wines, Greendance produces sparkling fruit wines, ports, roses, clarets, cordials and lower alcohol wines, as well as vinaigrettes and syrups. Wines are available for purchase.

 

Sand Hill now hosts thousands every year. Visitors enjoy complimentary  wine tastings, lunch at Cabin Café or Café Persimmon, strolling through the gardens and relaxing in the Nectar Garden surrounded by butterfly bush and native grasses. An amphitheater and several other inviting outdoor spaces are popular venues for weddings and special events.

 

Rick, who still practices medicine with a light schedule, is glad they have struck a balance between pleasing customers and maintaining the working farm. Though their now-grown children are not actively involved, the farm is important to them. “Our project list is long and still growing and can best be accomplished through a multigenerational approach, which is our goal,” Rick  says.

 

Meet the Sand Hill crew at Pittsburgh farmers’ markets: East Liberty (Broad Street); Mt. Lebanon (Lutheran Church); Verona (Railroad Avenue); and Forest Hills (Ardmore Presbyterian Church).  For a “berry” immersive experience, head to the Laurel Highlands, where the story began.

Raspberry Glaze Pie Recipe

Shared by Susan Lynn of Sand Hill Berries

When I was newly married 50 years ago, relatives and neighbors gave me their recipes––with the generous addition of call me if you have questions added to the bottom of many. This recipe was simply labeled “Elby’s Pie” and was contributed by a great-aunt. Elby’s was the restaurant known regionally as Eat’n Park, as famous for their strawberry pie as they were for their Big Boy.

Ingredients

4 tbsp raspberry Jell-O (or any gelatin brand formulated with adipic acid—fumaric acid yields a soft-set)
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
¼ tsp salt

20-24 oz raspberries, uncut and unbruised

1 8-inch baked pie shell (you choose the crust recipe)

Combine Jell-O, cornstarch, sugar, water, and salt in a saucepan. Stir until there are no lumps, then add heat.

Bring to a boil and mixture will turn clear. Continue to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.

Place berries in a shallow pan. Drizzle the glaze over the fruit. Fold gently with a soft thin-edged rubber spatula until fruit is covered with glaze, then lay it in the baked pie shell.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve within 12 hours. Try not to break the skin of the fruit. Do not use fruit that is exuding juice. If you break open the fruit, remove it because it will make part of the pie runny. 

Double the recipe for a larger pie. Do not enlarge the recipe further since it will be difficult to cook the cornstarch throughout and the pie will not set.

At Sand Hill Berries we double the glaze recipe and use 24-30 ounces of raspberries for a well-mounded 10-inch raspberry pie.

Photography by Dave Bryce / Story by Susan Fleming Morgans / Styling by Keith Recker

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