We're open this weekend for U-pick! or buy a flat of fresh berries at our farm stand. We've been picking by hand all week, and will start machine picking soon. Everything is ripe to perfection.
The age old battle continues. Whats the difference between hand picked blueberries and machine picked blueberries. The hand picked blueberries are firmer, because they are typically not as sweet/ripe, as they are the first of the crop. We can't machine pick these earliest berries, as it would damage the rest of the berries on the bush which are still ripening. The riper/sweeter the berry the softer it becomes. For Machine picked berries, the majority of the berries have to be ripe, because the majority will fall off as the picker goes through. With hand picking you can select the berries that are the biggest and the bluest and the ripest. We, the farmer, expect a highest quality from the hand pickers.
Every year we make our own compost right here on the farm. We couldn't find a reliable source of consistent compost, so we make our own, with our own special recipe. We gather compost feed stocks from our local area, and layer them carefully. We turn it, and let it cook for 12 to 14 weeks, then it goes into a curing pile for 1 year. We then spread it on our blueberry plants, as a food source, and sell it to other local blueberry growers. This special formula results in berries that are amazing nutritious, delicious, and have a wonderful texture too. In small quantities our compost is available to the public for purchase, $50 dollars a yard by appointment.