Tag Archives: Blueberry

Summer 2014

  By Administrator | July 22, 2014 - 1:46 pm | , , , , ,
Comments Off

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

  By Administrator | July 10, 2014 - 8:09 pm | , , , ,
Comments Off

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

  By Administrator | March 7, 2013 - 8:49 pm |
2 Comments

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.

Really, the chickens were this color before eating carrots

  By Administrator | March 4, 2013 - 2:14 pm |
2 Comments

CarrotBeakThese chickens love the carrot pulp left over from juicing.  They don’t always manage to get all the carrots off their beaks.  Today, outside their safely-fenced night space by the barn, they wandered around looking for any bit of wild green or stray insect or new seed they could find.  They haven’t learned how to share very well.  One grabs a piece of squash and runs away with it, while another chases her in hot pursuit of the prized food.

 

The sun broke through the clouds today.  We are looking forward to a break in the clouds and some better weather for pruning blueberries.  Perhaps this week it will happen.

Storm Preparations

  By Administrator | February 9, 2013 - 2:01 am |
2 Comments

Today, February 8, 2013, we spent the morning getting ready for the predicted storm which is supposed to bring 16″ of snow.  We made sure the sheep, donkeys and chickens were well supplied with water and food … that the barn doors were fastened to keep snow out of the stored hay … that firewood was by the stove.  And then, looking out the window to the blueberry field below – wait a minute!  Forty feet of deer fencing was sagging to the ground.

Donkeys Before the Storm

Donkeys Before the Storm

Fine snowflakes were blowing in the cold wind, and I quickly gathered ladder, wire, zip ties and rope into the truck and drove down to the sagging fence.  Two hours later, it’s good to know the fence is secure from the wind and possible snow load.

Just at that moment, Charlie, our generous arborist neighbor, showed up with a wonderful load of wood chips and dumped them on the chip pile for our blueberries.  Wonderful, because they were so fragrant and fresh – smelling like balsam fir.  Wonderful because they were small, uniform, beautiful chips that the berries would love because they included the smaller branches and needles from the tree.  Wonderful, because it was nice to see Charlie and the chips after being blown around for two hours by wind trying to knock over the ladder.

Now, we’ve waited all day.  Where is the snow?

Blueberry pruning workshop

  By Administrator | February 9, 2013 - 12:47 am | ,
Leave a comment

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.