REGION — The highbush blueberry crop is looking good this year with three local growers already open for picking and a fourth set to open Saturday, July 29.

“The blueberries have loved the rain,” Grace Firth, who with her husband John have a pick your own operation at 26 Intervale Road in New Sharon, told the Livermore Falls Advertiser Saturday night, July 22. “I like it when people can get so many berries. They are just fantastic this year.”

Firth said she was surprised not to see any fungal diseases so far this year. It has been so wet, she hasn’t been able to mow the field. She hopes not to see an issue that has come up in the last year or so.

“We have had honey bees eat our fruit at the end of August in a dry year when there are no flowers and water is scarce,” she said. “We had never seen that until a couple years back.”

The Firths opened several days ago for picking. Grace expects the season to last five weeks, it should be good depending on what the weather does in the next few weeks.

Price is $2.20 per pound. People should bring their own containers to take fruit home in, although half pound pails are available to pick in. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 12:30-7 p.m. Sunday.

For more information call [207] 778-3904.

Steep Hill Farm at 26 Clyde Wells Road opened for picking Monday, July 17, and expects to be open four or five weeks. George and Brenda Joseph own the farm.

“The crop looks pretty good,” George said Sunday morning. “The rain helps size up the berries. Unlike strawberries, the rain isn’t as much as a problem for blueberries. The crop should be better than average.”

Mowing has been less of a concern for the Josephs. “We usually have everything mowed so it looks like a front lawn,” George said. “If it is really wet, it could get slippery. We haven’t had that issue yet.”

Blueberry bushes at Steep Hill Farm are fertilized a couple of times in the spring. Because of mulching and high organic matter in the soil, George doesn’t expect much washing away of nutrients due to all the rain this year.

“The extension agent was here recently and he said we had good growth,” George noted.

The picking season usually lasts four to five weeks, may be a bit different this year as things are ripening up now that sun and warm weather have begun, he stated.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily but pickers should call the day they plan to come, George said. “Sometimes we need to shut down early to mow or if the berries need to ripen,” he explained. “Picking should last through the second week of August. After that it may be on and off depending on the number of pickers and berries.”

Price is $6 per quart. People may bring their own or purchase them for 25 cents each – what it costs the Josephs to buy them.

For more information call [207] 685-4155 or visit the farm’s Facebook page Steep Hill Farm Blueberries.

In Jay, Jeff and Rhonda Irish own Irish’s Berries and Honey at 20 Davenport Hill Road. They opened about two weeks ago.

“There are a lot of berries out there,” Rhonda said Saturday evening. “Size wise they are looking really good. The early and midseason varieties are both ripening now.”

Rhonda said Jeff fertilized a couple of times to help with all the wet weather.

“We are a small operation, have about 120 to 130 plants,” Rhonda noted. “It is so easy for people to walk right out to them. It’s a short walk from where they park.”

The Irish’s children and grandchildren are also involved. “I have two grandchildren, ages 11 and 15 who are picking for a store in Kingfield. They come down a couple of times a week to pick.”

The farm is open daily from sunrise to sunset. If it has to be closed, it will be posted on Facebook.

Cost to pick is $4 per quart and includes the box – the same as last year. Payment is on the honor system. Honey and maple syrup are also available.

For those who can’t pick, orders will be taken for pre-picked berries at $8 per quart. Calling ahead to make arrangements is required.

For more information, call [207] 89-5708 or visit the Facebook page.

The Wilton Blueberry Farm, 83 McLaughlin Road in Wilton is owned by Mat Bickford. Opening day is Saturday, July 29.

“It is a little soggy,” he said Saturday night. “It’s starting to dry out a little bit.”

Bickford said the area where people usually park is pretty good, they may have to come up the driveway instead. Look for the signs directing where to go, he noted.

“I haven’t been able to get out and mow the fields,” Bickford said. “There is some mummy berry [a fungal disease that hardens the berries making them inedible] this year. It’s not so prolific as some years.”

Hours this year are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Price is $2.50 per pound. People should bring their own containers, although pint and quart boxes will be available.

Bickford said he has a new partner, Stephanie Henley, whose botanical soaps and skin care products will be available for sale in the tent.

For more information call [207] 645-4678 or visit the farm’s Facebook page.

“So far the blueberry crop looks pretty good,” David Handley, professor and small fruit specialist with UMaine Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, said Monday morning. He initially feared cold temperatures in May might have damaged the buds, said “We ducked that bullet.”

The blueberries were in bloom during the hard freeze on May 18 but many had already been pollinated, which protected them some, Handley noted. “We are seeing some deformities as a result of that,” he stated.

Rain increases the potential for fungal diseases such as mummy berry, Handley said. Most commercial producers are prepared for that, were able to spray, he noted. “I am seeing some mummy berry, but not a lot,” he added.

Loss of nutrients because of leaching is another issue that could come about because of all the rain this year, Handley said. It will have more of an impact on next year’s crop, he noted. Nutrition should be available in August to support next year’s bud development, growers may need to supplement then, he stated.

There are two problems affecting producers now, according to Handley. “One, pickers don’t want to pick in the rain and two, they don’t want to pick when it is 90 degrees out and humid,” he noted. “We have had one or the other.”

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