Closed for next Tuesday and
Thursday, Sept 25 and 27
We will close for picking on
Tuesday and Thursday, September 25 and 27.Picking pressure during the week has dropped off, as it always does
after Labor Day, but weekends are good.So, we’ll be open on Saturday and Sunday for picking, but will close
on Tuesday and Thursday.If you ever
want to pick berries during the week, just call us (207-787-2730) and if we’re
home you are welcome to come and pick – we’ll open the stand for you.
Lots of blueberries left!
The
picking of our late season Elliott variety continues with lots of berries
still on the bushes.Weather is
starting to be a little cooler, so stop by the blueberry field to get some
late season picking.We will be
picking through September into early October, depending on the
weather.
Three Tons Picked!
Last year you picked 8,306 pounds of
blueberries, second only to our best year in 2012 when you picked 8,642
pounds. So far this year you’ve picked nearly 8,000 pounds!We reached the 3-ton benchmark on Sunday,
19 August and are only 200 pounds to reaching our 4-tons picked.Keep up the good work!
We have started to spray
Unfortunately the numbers of Spotted Wing
Drosophila (SWD)
have increased to the point where we have begun spraying to control
them.We sprayed on Tuesday, Sept 4,
2018, and will continue on a weekly basis for the
remainder of our picking season.It is safe to
pick the berries, but we recommend that you wash them before eating them as
a precaution.
Running our Trapline
While
out picking blueberries you may have noticed some
of the red SOLO cups hanging on green metal posts scattered around the
blueberry farm.These are traps
designed to monitor the presence of an unwelcome new pest that has arrived
in Maine, thanks to global warming.They are baited with apple cider vinegar and collect insects drawn
to them.
Thanks
to our changing climate the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) has been moving
into Maine over the last four years and is something we’ve never had to
deal with here – we were too far north!This small fruit fly has the annoying habit of laying its eggs in
ripe fruit.The eggs then hatch into
white larvae which consume the fruit.
We
run the “trapline” every week and count the number of SWD captured in the
traps.The numbers caught in our
traps have reached a critical point and we have been forced to spray our
blueberries to control the infestation.Untreated, the entire crop could be lost.The Agricultural Extension Service has
similar traps on farms around the state and send us a weekly report of SWD
findings.
When we
spray we will be doing so once a week for the rest of this picking season,
using primarily Spinosad, a natural insecticide.Spinosad is made up of two complex
organic compounds that are produced by certain microbes that were first
discovered in soil found at an abandoned rum factory.Spinosad is a broad-spectrum, organic
insecticide. The term "broad-spectrum" means that it is toxic to
a wide variety of insects. It is, however, relatively non-toxic to mammals
and beneficial insects.
When
we spray we will post a notice for our blueberry pickers.Although the berries you pick will still
be safe to eat, as a precaution we will recommend that you wash them before
eating them.Sorry, since we delight
in eating the berries right off the bushes.
Here is a video of our blueberry farm that we had
done to show it off.
2018 -
Status of Varieties
Blue Crop – Picked Out
Berkeley – Picked Out
Jersey – Picked Out
Blue Gold – Picked Out
Little Giant – Picked Out
Elliott – Good Picking
Blueberries and Old Books?
We added a feature to our Crabtree's Collection
Old Books website in 2001 and every summer offer Pick-Your-Own
Blueberries at our Maine Farmhouse. Stories about of our blueberry
operation are linked to this page below. Check out the pictures of our
place.
The first varieties of our highbush blueberries ripen around
mid-July, and we then open our Pick-Your-Own Blueberry (PYO)
operation to the public for the picking season. If you have been
following the Maine Farmhouse Journals you know how pleased and
proud we are of our old place here (see Bears
in the Blueberry Bushes), and the PYO Blueberry operation gives us a
chance to share a part of our experience with all of you.
When we purchased the Farmhouse in August 1998, one of the bonus
features was the extensive mature plantings of highbush blueberries
in the side field. The former owner, Dot, had planted and nurtured
hundreds of highbush blueberry bushes. They are now 37 years old,
and bear sweet, juicy blueberries the size of your thumb. The chest-high
bushes almost bend over under the weight of clusters of berries.
Since 1998 we have more than doubled the size of the berry patch with
new plantings and now have 1,500 bushes. We have also installed a drip
irrigation system and pamper the bushes with annual pruning, fertilizer
twice a year, and regular weeding and mowing. Our policy has been not to
use any pesticides on our bushes and encourage people to each the berries
right from the bushes to add to their experience. However, with the
advent of climate change a new invasive fruitfly
has migrated into the patch from the south that we've never had in Maine,
forcing us to spray toward the end of the picking season with an organic
pesticide. We'll post a notice when we have to do this, and then will
recommend washing the fruit before eating. Sorry!
We opened the berry patch as a Pick-your-own operation in 2001
and it has become a wonderful experience for hundreds of families every
summer. The picking is easy, and the berries are wonderful. There are
several different varieties that ripen at different times during the
summer, so there are blueberries to pick from mid-July until the end of
September most years. We look forward to seeing you during the summer
picking season - watch this page to see when the different varieties of highbush
blueberries are ripe and ready to pick!
Please call us if you have any questions or suggestions, and we hope
to see you at Crabtree's PYO Highbush Blueberries.
We are listed with the State of Maine"Get
Real Maine" for PYO Blueberries in CumberlandCounty.
We are also listed on under
Regional Attractions - "MaineLakes and Mountains
Region".
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