Summer 2014

For July and August You-pick is open Thursdays through Mondays from 7:30am to 3:00pm.  We hope to have blueberries through the second week of August and a little beyond.  Expect lavender Spring through Fall along with many of the flowers and herbs.  Pumpkins and gourds will be ready in the pumpkin patch some time in September and through October.  It is always best to call ahead to make sure the crop you want is currently abundant.  (518)285-9039

Flowers, flowers, flowers … both fresh and dried.

Calendula blossoms – our you-pick flowers are now easy to reach near the shop.

2014 U-Pick Opening

Oh, we are so glad to get beyond the winter protections (snow fencing and rolling up the bird netting), the pruning (which started early this year with a long cold winter), the spring weeding and worry about late frosts, the hope that hail won’t find us with all these thunder storms, the relief that finally we got the bird net up and the holes patched, the irrigating and fertigating and chipping and matting, and figuring out how to redirect a little ground hog back across the street, the mowing and mowing and, wait don’t get in the way of that little Killdeer and her nest!!!   … Anyway that’s enough worry, because the killdeer have hatched and the blueberries are beautiful and ripening and we are opening on Friday, July 11 at 7:30 am for pickers.  It’s supposed to be a beautiful day – and this is the fun part for us. 

Thank you to all the pickers in the past who are so appreciative of the summer berries.  It makes a year’s worth of blood, sweat and tears worth the trouble.
Here is a photo taken today (Thursday, July 10) of a cluster of Reka berries, showing all stages of ripening.  Come and enjoy the harvest.Reka5141

And for those who love lavender, all eight varieties of lavender that we planted last year have done very well for a difficult winter and are ready for those who would like to pick their own lavender.  We can show you how to do it so that you help the plant thrive and also harvest the best stems for whatever use you plan for the lavender.  Some people use the flowers in tea, some use the buds for fragrant sachets, some dry the stems for flower arrangements, some may use the buds for making soap or other crafts.  
5074Lavender
As long as we’re talking about new things, we also are amazed at the Shiitake harvest.  Here are some growing on logs in the woods.  If you are interested in these mushrooms, we do need a few days notice.  They seem to be quite content growing under the moist but airy hemlock trees.
5086Shiitake

For July and August we are open Thursday through Monday from 7:30am to 3:00 pm (and until 5 on Fridays).  Come and enjoy the fun part.

We are pruning blueberries

If we didn’t love pruning, it would be hard to go down to the field and wallow on the snow and the wet ground.  But pruning is interesting, not something to do by rote.  There are visual choices for the artist in you.  There are structural choices for the farmer who wants plenty of good-size berries.  There are practical choices for easy access for the people who mow, and who weed, and who pick.  I like the challenges of shaping something that does not stay exactly the way you arrange it.  It grows with or against your touch.  In summer, you see it respond.

RekaBefore4358

Reka Blueberry bush before pruning this week.

Today I want to work on the Reka bushes.  They grow fast and can throw out throngs of berries on one branch that force it to flop, undignified, to the ground.

I was glad to put on bulky winter clothes topped with rain pants, because the temperature hovered just above freezing, and a steady breeze kept the snow from melting.

How to start?  Look from the top to see what’s crowding the center.  Look from several sides to see what is crossing and bent.  Look to see what has too many short old branches.  Look for the fat flower buds that are waiting for spring to transform them to berries.  Each bud represents a cluster of berries.  Then look into the future.  Which stems are strong and straight enough to support the berries they will hold?

Reka after pruning.

Reka blueberry after pruning on March 5, 2013.

Once you have seen all this, then start removing stems you know will not grow well: the small, crowded and dead stems; the lower branches that will get little light and those that grow horizontally.  Take as much as one-third of the growth.

Here is the same Reka after Tuesday’s pruning.

I will look for it this summer, to see what it does.

Blueberry pruning workshop

Our second blueberry pruning workshop is scheduled for Saturday, March 23 starting at 1:00pm.  If we are stopped by snow or rain, we will try for Sunday, March 24.

A young Blue Crop blueberry bush in fall colors

A young Blue Crop blueberry bush in fall colors

It’s a good idea to prune your blueberries in winter and complete the process by early April.  We show you the basic principles and the preferred tools.  Once you have the idea and have watched the pruning demonstration, you get a chance to tell us how to prune a bush and try out your new skills.

Some people are interested in pruning for blueberry production so that they can continue to harvest a lot of berries, and others want to prune for ornamental or other reasons.  Bring your ideas to the workshop.

There is NO CHARGE for attending and everyone interested is welcome.  Please RSVP – we need to know how many people to expect.

See you in the blueberry field, 1176 Babcock Lake Rd, Hoosick Falls, NY.