Highbush blueberries are ripening early this year with area farms now open for picking. The large blue fruit seen in this photo from last year are a favorite for eating fresh, baking and freezing for later use. File photo/Livermore Falls Advertiser
REGION — Three highbush blueberry farms are open for picking.
In Jay Irish’s Berries and Honey, 20 Davenport Hill Road is open dawn to dusk on an honor system. Berries are $4 per quart and boxes are included in that price. The farm is owned by Jeff and Rhonda Irish.
“One variety comes on early every year,” Rhonda said in a phone interview Monday, July 18. “Others, the mid and late season varieties are ripening off too. The area where the berry plants are gets a lot of sun, it never seems to get real dry, we never have problems.”
The farm has about 130 plants, which is small compared to other farms in the area and they are not irrigated, she said.
Much of Maine is in a moderate drought. An article in the Sun Journal Monday, July 18, reports there is good news for fans of Maine’s high-bush blueberries: They’re ready now, about a week ahead of schedule. More sun and more stress – in the form of scant rainfall – speed the ripening process, according to David Handley, small fruit specialist with UMaine Cooperative Extension.
“Our crop seems very, very good – above average,” Rhonda said. “It was good last year too. A few years ago there were no berries, the last few years have been really good.”
She said she started purchasing berry bushes while working for the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District which held an annual plant sale fundraiser. She thought it would be great for her children to pick them and sell them wholesale before they were old enough “to get real jobs.” The grandkids have also done that but aren’t this year, Rhonda said.
According to the farm’s Facebook page berry picking opened on July 10 this year and last.
Some hands-free picking containers are available.
“By the time the Wilton Blueberry Festival comes we are just about at the end,” Rhonda said. “The prime time is the three to four weeks after we open.”
Pickers should check the Facebook page or call 207-897-5708 as the fields sometimes need to be closed to allow berries to ripen or if it is raining. The farm also has honey and maple syrup for sale.
Grace and John Firth’s operation, 26 Intervale Road in New Sharon is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12-6 p.m. Sunday. The price is $2 per pound and people should bring their own containers.
The farm has about 4,000 berry bushes.
The season is definitely earlier this year, Grace said Monday. “The plants will like this rain we ARE going to get later today,” she stated. “It looks like a great year.”
Last year the season was terrible, it only lasted three weeks, she said. This year she is hoping for five weeks of picking.
For more information call 207-778-3904.
Wilton Blueberry Farm in Wilton is opening Saturday, July 23, with selective picking. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Price is $2.50 per pound.
“The berries are slow to ripen this year compared to last year,” owner Mat Bickford said Monday. He can’t compare prior years as he purchased the farm last year.
“You won’t be able to pick them like grapes,” he noted.
A few pint and quart berry boxes are available for those who drop in to pick unexpectedly but most people bring their own containers, Bickford said.
The farm has more than 3,000 bushes that were planted in the late 1940s. There are several varieties, one of which typically ripens later in the season.
Pruning the bushes wasn’t possible this year, so they are overgrown, Bickford said.
The picking hours are different this year – with no midday break – to better accommodate pickers, he added.
For more information call 207-645-4678 or visit the farm’s Facebook page.
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