Blueberry season starts in mid June and lasts for about 6 weeks.

Rules

• Do NOT throw berries
• Children must be monitored
• As with other fruit, sampling is OK, but gluttony is theft.  We want you to know what you are picking, but please do not eat more than a few.  After all, you wouldn’t do it in Walmart, right?
• Do not wander to other fields.   Only pick the fruit that is advertised as being ripe.
• It is OK to sit a short while and enjoy our farm.  But please understand that we are not a park, and need to cover our costs by selling food.  We do not want to have to charge admission.

How to pick a good berry

Color is a primary indicator of ripeness.  If it isn’t blue, it isn’t ripe.

But just because it is blue doesn’t mean it is particularly sweet.  Like other fruits, the riper it is, the sweeter.   Like many other fruits, it is at peak sweetness just before it falls from the bush.   So we suggest holding your bucket under a cluster and gently rubbing your thumb across the top of the blueberry to encourage it to fall off.  The easier it comes away, the less tart it will be.

Late in the season, don’t be discouraged by small berries.  They are often the sweetest as they have had time to ripen completely and sweeten in the mid-summer sun.

After picking

Washing is always recommended before eating fruit. 

Refrigeration is highly recommended to keep your berries for a short time.

If you want to save your berries for more than a week or two, freeze dry berries in a single layer on a sheet tray.  After frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe ziplock or other container.  Individual frozen berries are a great treat!

Varieties:

• Our first variety of the season is Duke (next to the road).  It lasts for about 3 weeks and is super easy to pick with lots of berries from toddler height to 5 feet.
• Our second variety is Bluecrop (next to raspberries).  This is a tasty variety that usually has a large yield.  It is one of the industry standards.
• Our third variety is Chandler.  This is a very large – and tasty! – blueberry.  Look for it near the top of “patch three”, which is above the Bluecrop.