Closing for the Season
The Elliott variety berries are still very plentiful on the bushes, but fall is now upon us and the last day of our regular picking season this year will be Tuesday, 27 September. Thank you everyone who have made our blueberry season a success this year!
Food Pantry Gleaners!
Join our
Beat The Frost Challenge!
The first hard frost is only a few weeks away, and when it descends on Crabtree’s PYO Blueberries in Sebago, Mother Nature will force an abrupt closure of our 2016 picking season. Before that happens, however, we still have a huge amount of beautiful blueberries on the bushes crying out to be picked and enjoyed by blueberry lovers.
Starting October 1, Food Pantries and friends of Food Pantries, as well as church groups who have shut-ins who would appreciate some fresh blueberries with their meals, are all invited to come to our blueberry farm and help harvest this bounteous crop of blueberries – for free! We have buckets you may use to pick with, and ask only that you let us weigh what you’ve picked for our picking records and that you bring containers with you to take the berries back with you.
Our regular days and hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays from 8am till 2pm, and on Sunday from 11am till 3pm. However, if these days and hours don’t fit your schedule, call us and we can probably arrange a time that works better. Call 207-787-2730 and leave a message, or send us an e-mail at crabtree@crabcoll.com. The berries are pleading and hope to hear from you soon!
Spotted
Wing Drosophila Update
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. The
monitoring traps are baited with apple cider vinegar and collect insects
drawn to them. I "run the trapline" once a week.
The Spotted Wing Drosophila
(SWD) has been moving into Maine over the last few 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.
When we run the “trapline” we count the number of SWD captured in the
traps. So far, the numbers so far
have been small but there has been a small increase in the numbers of SWD
flies in our monitoring traps in the last two weeks. We have unfortunately
been forced to begin spraying our blueberries to control the infestation,
something that we do not like to do but is a necessity. Untreated, the entire crop could be
lost, but with weekly spraying we are confident that we can keep the
infestation under control. The
Agricultural Extension Service has similar traps on farms around the
state and sends us a weekly report of SWD findings, and have reported a general increase at other monitoring
sites. The good news, however, is that on farms where a regular spraying
program has been introduced the numbers of SWD have been kept in
check.
We are now spraying once a
week and will have to do so for the rest of this picking season. We are
using primarily Spinosad, a natural
insecticide. Spinosad is a relatively new insecticide that 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 are our regular
days and hours: We are open at 8am on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and
stay open until 2 pm.
·
Tues, Thurs and Saturday from 8:00 am till 2:00
pm
·
Sunday from 11:00 am till 3:00 pm
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2016 - Status of
Varieties
Blue
Crop – Picked out
Berkeley
– Picked out
Jersey – Picked out
Blue Gold – Picked out
Little Giant – Picked out
Elliott – Good Picking
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Three Ton Winner – August 25,
2016
Mark Horsman,
summer resident of Naples and winter resident
of Illinois, was
the lucky blueberry picker that brought our
total-berries-picked
this season to Three tons!
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Two Ton Winner – August 7, 2016
Dianne Sinclair
from Porter, Maine was the lucky picker who brought our total of
blueberries picked so far this 2016 season to Two
Tons. Here she is with her
certificate and blueberry dog in training Polly.
One Ton Winners – July 28, 2016
A family from Scarborough brought the total poundage of
blueberries picked at
Crabtree's PYO Blueberries in Sebago on July 28,2016 to
one ton! Shown here
are Jenna Giguere and her girls Jaimie, Rhonda, and
Jessica, along with Pollie,
our Blueberry Dog in Training.
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Here
are some “Ton Winners”
from
previous Blueberry Years
Rhonda Poliquin of Denmark
was the lucky blueberry picker on August 8, 2015
that brought the total amount of blueberries picked
to 4,000 pounds. She is shown here with Polly, our
“blueberry dog in training” and Jake Johnson, who
is working at the farm this season.
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Our 2015 One-Ton Winner on 30 July
Kylie, Luke and Kristin Droptar from Windham,
Maine
Shown here with Jake Johnson and Polly,
our new "blueberry dog in training".
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The Blue Crop, our early variety,
are like bunches of grapes on the bushes when they first ripen!
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Peggy Smith (l) from Otisfield,
Maine, was the
lucky blueberry picker on August 19 2014
who brought the total berries picked at Crabtree's Blueberries
to two tons so far this season!
Picking continues strong, with the late variety
Elliott blueberries now ripening. Shown here with Peggy is
Tori Mailman (r) who is working at the blueberry farm this summer
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Mary Noble (l) and Fran Zarnowski
from Sebago, ME,
were the lucky blueberry pickers on August 2, 2014 who brought the
total berries picked at Crabtree's Blueberries to one ton
so far this season! It has been a great year for blueberries
and the picking is easy. The first ton benchmark was reached
after only nine days of picking, with many more predicted this season.
Shown here with Fran and Mary is Tori Mailman (r)
who is working at the blueberry farm this summer. .
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Martha Blue Davis from Denmark, ME, brought the
total berries
picked this season to Two Tons, on August 18, 2013.
She is shown here on the right,
along with Colby the official Blueberry Greeter Dog
and her friend Heidi Lewis.
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We reached our first mile-stone of the 2013
Picking Season when notable local author Caroline Grimm
from North Bridgton ME, brought the total berries picked
at Crabtree's Blueberries to one ton so far this season!
We reached this on August 3, 2013 on the ninth day
of picking this year. Shown here with Caroline
is Colby the official blueberry greeter dog
and some pickers who applauded her effort.
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What a season this has been! On Sunday,
August 26, 2012 Robin Gosbee brought
the total blueberries picked this season
to four tons! She and her daughters come
regularly to pick at the blueberry farm
and live in Sebago. Robin is shown here
with her 4-ton certificate and Colby the
official blueberry greeter dog.
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Blueberry picking continues strong with
three tons of berries picked so far
this 2012 season at Crabtree’s Blueberries
in Sebago. Picking is expected to
continue well into September as the late
variety Elliotts continue to ripen. The
lucky pickers who helped us reach this
benchmark on Saturday, August 11, were
Malcolm and Debbie Barnes of the
Top-of-the-Hill-Grill in Casco. They
are shown here with Colby the official
blueberry greeter dog
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On August 2, 2012, Wendy Gaulrapp
and her daughter Evi
were the lucky pickers who brought the total berries
picked at Crabtree’s Blueberries in Sebago to two tons
so far this season! She is shown here with Colby the
official blueberry greeter dog.
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Al Curns from Bridgton ME, was the lucky blueberry picker
on July 26, 2012 who brought the total berries picked
at Crabtree's Blueberries to one ton so far this season!
It has been a great year for blueberries and the
picking is easy. The first ton benchmark was reached
after only 5 days of picking, with many more
predicted
this season. Shown here with Al is Colby the official
blueberry greeter dog
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Corin Meehan and Mary Whitworth picked the bucket
that brought our 2011 season
total to three tons of berries picked.
They are shown here with Colby the
official blueberry greeter dog.
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Marianne and John Scott picked the bucket
who brought our 2011 season
total to two tons of berries picked.
They are shown here with Colby the
official blueberry greeter dog.
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Mimi and Eben Lang were
the lucky pickers
who brought our 2011 season
total to one ton of berries picked.
They are shown here with Colby the
official blueberry greeter dog.
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Blueberry picking continued strong during the 2010 season. The lucky
pickers who helped us reach the three-ton benchmark on August 28
were Peter and Karen Cutrone from Denmark.
Presenting
them with their 3-ton certificate is Stella
Fillmore-Patrick (r) and Colby the official blueberry
greeter dog.
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Beth Chagrasulis, a
regular blueberry picker
at Crabtree’s Blueberries from Standish
was the lucky picker who brought the total
berries picked to two tons so far this season
on August 3, 2010. She is shown here with
Colby the official blueberry greeter dog.
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Grace and Bob Davis from Limington, ME, were the
lucky
blueberry pickers on July 25, 2010 who brought the
total berries picked at Crabtree's Blueberries to
one ton so far this season! It has been a great year
for blueberries and the picking is easy. The first ton
benchmark was reached after only 7 days of picking,
with many more tons predicted this season. Shown here
with Grace and Bob is Colby the official blueberry greeter dog
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Colby, the official blueberry greeter dog,
romps through the fallen autumn leaves
as he awaits his first customer of the day.
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Surprised two early blueberry pickers one morning
on my way out to open up for the day (Sept 26, 2009).
They didn't stick around to pick anything though -
they could have had all the berries they
wanted if they'd have stuck around for folks
to see 'em. These are the first moose we've
seen in our yard this year so far.
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Laurie Ettus and her
friends, visiting from
Framingham, Mass, were the lucky blueberry
pickers who brought the total berries
picked at Crabtree's Blueberries to two
tons so far this season on August 20, 2009!
Shown here are (l-r) Steve Luoma, Jennifer
Meunier, Laurie Ettus,
Corinne Myers, and
Jay Lanzafane. Front center is Colby the
official blueberry greeter dog.
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Vackie Kennil and Darby Shea
visiting from
Minot, Maine were the lucky blueberry
pickers who brought the total berries
picked at Crabtree's Blueberries to
one ton so far this 2009 season! Shown here
are Vackie (l), Darby, and Colby the blueberry dog.
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Cindy Skoolicas (l) and
Scott Brubaker
from North Baldwin, Maine
were the lucky blueberry pickers who
brought the total berries picked at
Crabtree's Blueberries in 2008 to two tons!
Shown here are Cindy, Scott,
Colby the official blueberry dog
and Allen Crabtree.
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Taylor Bushnell proposed marriage to
Kim Bishop in the blueberry patch
on August 21, 2008, and Kim accepted!
"We couldn't think of a more romantic location,"
Bushnell said. Bushnell and Bishop were
visiting colleges in Maine from
their homes near Portand, Oregon where
her father is a blueberry farmer also.
A date for the wedding has not yet been set.
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Blueberries and
Old Books?
We added a new 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.
Click on these links to get directions to the farm, our hours of operation and prices, information
about the history of blueberries,
and tips on picking and storing blueberries as well as links to several blueberry recipe websites. Getting Ready for Blueberry Season tells about
some of the work that goes into having big, juicy blueberries for picking. We
also have pictures showing what the blueberry patch looks like during the Quiet Seasons of autumn and winter.
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Large, juicy blueberries
hang in big bunches
for easy picking
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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 about 600 highbush
blueberry bushes. They are now more than 35 years old and bear sweet, juicy
blueberries the size of your thumb. The head-high bushes literally bend over
under the weight of clusters of berries.
Since 1998 we have more than doubled
the size of the berry patch with 900 new plantings. We have also installed a
drip irrigation system and pamper the bushes with annual pruning, fertilizer
twice a year, and regular weeding and mowing. We don't use any pesticides on
our bushes and encourage people to eat the berries right from the bushes to add
to their experience.
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. It is not unusual to have good blueberry picking into
early October, until the first hard frost comes and ends the picking season. 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 Cumberland County.
We are also listed on 
under
Regional Attractions - "Maine Lakes and Mountains Region".
Allen and Penny Crabtree
(207) 787-2730
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Maine Blueberry banner and
Sebago Map created by Allen F. Crabtree IV
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This
page was last updated September 7, 2016.
Copyright
© 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016 by Allen Crabtree
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