Opening Weekend Report

Opening day was pretty wet to start. The cloud cover slowed the arrival of daylight and so the first arrivals were later than normal (after 6:30 am) and pickers showed up in fewer numbers. Nevertheless, if you found the right bush, picking was good and those skilled at picking and disciplined at not eating half of what they picked could fill a 5-qt ice cream pail in about 40 minutes (some less). The weather conditions turned to great in the afternoon and the evening was beautiful.

Over the past 6 seasons that we have owned this farm, we frequently are asked about bears. Seems natural, eh: bears love blueberries (who doesn't?) and we are located in one of the richest bear habitats in the lower 48. I (John) was an avid bear hunter in the 1980s and so I know what to look for when it comes to bear sign. Well, if they didn't before, pretty much everybody who visited farm this weekend does so now, as there were enough bear droppings around to half fill a 5 gal bucket, even after filling the treads of dozens of shoes. The amount of bear sign is very unusual this year. We have kept track of previous signs of bear over the past 6 years: 2 different bear tracks and only one pile of droppings. This year the bear "piles" are too numerous to count. John and a friend chased a bear off the back patch while putting out the garbage pails the late evening prior to opening. About the same time and place tonight (second day of picking season), a picker got a glimpse of a bear picking berries and trying to get away without paying (fat chance!). Well, watch where you step and we will keep an eye on things.

Reports on the quality of picking have been mixed so far. Some think that the picking is better than last year and others less so (but still good). I am pretty sure it is not as good. We have crop insurance, which we started two years ago, and as part of that the adjuster visits the fields just prior to opening and performs some very standardized assessment and uses some sort of calculations to forecast the harvest. Last year the estimate was 15,000 lbs and we ended up with about 9000 picked. This year the estimate is a more modest 8000 lbs, which would still be an above-average year. Nevertheless, last year there were 1500 lbs picked on opening day and this year a whopping 1200 lbs, despite what seemed like almost meager numbers of pickers. There are still many, many 1000s of lbs to harvest, after they ripen. Blueberry ripening is still a mystery to us. If it were me, I would come on evenings late in the work week and/or very early on Saturdays. The evenings temps and breezes (if any) are quite pleasant this time of year, so any night would be nice, regardless of the picking. The mornings are quite beautiful, too. Often a little foggy, always very dewy, and lots of bird noises. I would skip the afternoon sun but that is just me...