dsmWeekly - June 5, 2024

Berry pickers fill their baskets during a trip last summer to the Edge of the Woods Berry Farm near Indianola. This month is strawberry season across Central Iowa. (Photo: Joe Crimmings)

FOOD & DINING

In berry season, visit a you-pick utopia

By James Augustus Baggett

It all started with a personal patch of raspberries.

“I had a small bed of red raspberries close to the house and enjoyed going out early mornings to pick them for cereal,” Beth McGeough said. A year later, in 2005, she and her husband, Rick, carved out space for 40 more raspberry bushes along a hayfield on their rural 65-acre property in Indianola, never imagining their horticultural hobby would grow into a 5-acre berry farm bursting with red and black raspberries as well as blueberries, tart cherries, currants and even gooseberries.

These days, the Edge of the Woods Berry Farm’s harvest season starts in May with rhubarb — a vegetable that folks enjoy like a fruit — followed in early June by gooseberries and currants. The end of June offers the first red raspberries and blueberries, before the black raspberries and tart cherries. Fall blackberries round out the season in August, but more beauty follows. Beth said the blueberry leaves “turn a spectacular burning red color and stand out as the fall trees display their colors.”

Watching customers fill their baskets with fat, juicy berries is especially satisfying, McGeough said. “I want every aspect of their time here to be enjoyable,” she added, “whether they’re a serious picker getting fruit for that batch of jam or bringing the kids out to discover how food grows and how fascinating dandelions are to pick.”

READ MORE: Find a recipe for McGeough’s Berry Crisp in the full story from 2023.

Meantime, why not check out a few other Central Iowa spots to fill up a basket of berries? This season’s strawberries are getting sweeter even while you’re reading this very sentence.

Berry Patch Farm south of Nevada is still going strong 50 years after Dean and Judy Henry first invited folks to fill up their baskets in 1974. They’re open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge offers an array of outdoor activities, including strawberry picking (and homemade doughnut eating). They’re usually open 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, but check online before you go, as the hours vary.

Iowa Orchard in Granger invites folks to pick strawberries and sugar snap peas this time of year. If you’re interested, make sure to reserve an appointment online.

Upstream Gardens & Orchard east of Altoona grows all kinds of berries and fruits from spring through fall. They’re open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 1-6 p.m. on weekends.

Wilson’s Orchard & Farm in Cumming opened its you-pick berry patches for the first time this spring and posted a handy chart to track when everything will ripen up throughout the season. The farm market is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with live music on Sunday afternoons.

Local artist Siriaco "Siricasso" Garcia, one of the Business Record's Forty Under 40 honorees, painted this mural in Highland Park during last year's Art Week Des Moines. (Photo: Brittany Brooke Crow)

BEST BET

During Art Week, paint the town red, blue, green ...

The tenth annual Art Week Des Moines kicks off this Sunday, June 9. The weeklong event highlights local neighborhoods with pop-up art installations, immersive experiences and workshops, all led by local artists.

The festivities begin with a party 5-8 p.m. Sunday in Columbus Park, where you can pick up a map for the week’s events and a free pupusa, courtesy of Usuluteco Salvadoran Restaurant.

Throughout the week, your inner artist can dive into collaborative events like 515 Brewing’s art nights, an improv dance jam at Drake University and a giant community art project in and around the Beaverdale Farmers Market.

Of course, if you’d prefer to admire art rather than create it, you can find temporary art installations all over the city, including the 14-foot glowing puppets featured in our current print issue. And if you’d rather taste art, too, well, you’re in luck: Local restaurants are serving up special, art-inspired menus to tantalize both your taste buds and your eyes.

The week closes with a night parade through the Drake Neighborhood on June 14 and a scavenger hunt for mosaic artwork in Highland Park on June 15. Head to the Art Week website for more details.

The Week Ahead

PrideFest (Thursday through Sunday): Capital City Pride’s flagship weekend takes over the East Village with music, dancing, drag royalty, a 5K run/walk/sashay and not one but two parades — one for people (noon Sunday) and another for fabulously dressed pets (9:30 a.m. Saturday).

Emancipation Day (9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday): Explore a century of Black history in Iowa, from the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation through the 1960s Civil Rights movement, at Living History Farms. The afternoon festivities include a sweet potato pie social, a performance by Pyramid Theatre Co., keynote address from Deidre DeJear, music by Sparks McKamey Gospel, a procession and an old-fashioned baseball game.

“Hurricane Season” lecture and reception (6 p.m. Thursday and 5-7 p.m. Friday): How does an ever-expanding hurricane season influence life across the Caribbean’s 700-some islands? Find out from a curated archipelago of contemporary Caribbean artwork — a painting on a FEMA tarp, a small ship assembled from scraps — in a new Des Moines Art Center exhibition that opens with a reception Friday night and stays up through Sept. 22. For a deeper look, head over Thursday night, when one of the exhibiting artists, MacArthur "genius" fellow Teresita Fernandez, delivers this year's Fingerman Lecture. Registration is free but required.

Filipino Fiesta (9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday): The Filipino American Society of Iowa shares the colorful traditions of their culture with a parade, mini wagon contest, music and dance performances and the coronation of Miss Phil of Iowa.

COMMUNITY
A lit library: The Des Moines Public Library just kicked off this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, which encourages children to read and participate in various activities through Aug. 3. Adults can also take part in the Summer Checkout Challenge. Both challenges offer opportunities to win prizes and attend programs around town. Two highlights: Local author Erin Huiatt leads a Bingo game based on her book “100 Things to Do in Des Moines Before You Die” on June 10 at the East Side Library, and a children’s storytime is set for June 14 at the Heritage Carousel in Union Park.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Mental health: The next installment of dsm’s ongoing “Lifting the Veil” series about mental health explores how new technology can expand access to mental health care with telehealth options and even emerging A.I. tools. But mental health is complex and intrinsically human. Can technology really help in a safe and reliable way? Find out more during our virtual panel discussion with four local experts: Ryan Crane, Josh Larson, Jon Lensing and Ciara Lewis. Register online for the event, which is at noon on June 13.

Baritone Justin Austin stars in the title role of "American Apollo," which premieres July 13 at the Des Moines Metro Opera. (Photo: Ben Easter)

COMMUNITY

Opera in Focus

By Michael Morain

At a Boston hotel in 1916, the famous painter John Singer Sargent met a young Black elevator attendant named Thomas McKeller and invited him to his studio to pose for some paintings. They hit it off, and over the next few years Sargent transformed McKeller’s figure into white gods and goddesses in the murals at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, immortalizing his body even while his name almost slipped into obscurity.

A century later, the Des Moines Metro Opera plans to tell that true story in the upcoming world premiere of “American Apollo.” So Justin Austin, the German-born baritone who plays McKeller, recently sat for a portrait of his own downtown at the Fitch Building. A handful of creative technicians fussed around him in the dimly lit room, projecting examples of Sargent’s artwork across Austin’s bare chest and the wall behind him.

The opera company has elevated its promotional photos over the last decade or so to match the visual splendor of its shows, which return June 28 through July 21 at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola. The team works months in advance, brainstorming concepts and figuring out all the logistics to conjure the look and feel of each production. They often use lighting and special effects to add a dash of magic to familiar landmarks like Hoyt Sherman Place, the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates or even Woodland Cemetery.

“We’re really proud of Des Moines,” said Kim Dragelevich, the company’s creative director. “We want people nationwide to look at these images and be surprised that Des Moines is producing something like this.”

Early planning allows the team — led by Dragelevich, executive director Michael Egel and photographer Ben Easter (who often contributes to dsm) — to feature each show’s stars instead of relying on illustrations or photos of models. And the opera world has taken notice; sometimes, cast members from all over the country politely jockey to be chosen for the promos.

Austin flew in for his shoot this winter, on a day off from a production in Chicago. “As a lyric baritone, it’s rare that I’m the centerpiece of the show,” he said while makeup artist Ivy Boyd brushed his torso with lotion.

At the time, he was starring in the boxing-themed opera “Champion” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, which had plastered his face on billboards and buses throughout the city. A tenant in the building where he was staying told him, “I think I saw you four or five times on my way home.”

Austin is aware that he’s making a name for himself in a way that the elevator operator he portrays never could. “He was hidden for so long,” the artist said. “I’m just so honored to be the person to help uncover this man from history.”

READ MORE: Check out behind-the-scenes photos from the company’s productions of “Billy Budd” (2017), “Rusalka” (2018), “Wozzeck” (2019), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (2022) and “The Love for Three Oranges” (2023).