Hay Berry Farm » Blueberries - Hay Berry Farm

U-pick open for 2013

Administrator — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:44:24 +0000

Spartan berries in July

The new Spartan berries have ripened with the other early berries and we are open for U-pick. (Tuesdays through Sundays from 7:30 until 3, and Fridays until 6.)

And here are some happy pickers with their berries

We will have flowers, herbs and some vegetables for U-pick as well.

We are pruning blueberries

Administrator — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:49:44 +0000

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.

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 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.

Good omen for Blueberries

Administrator — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:58:22 +0000

We were visited by a dancing blueberry today in the middle of February.

What a good omen for next summer!

The blueberry kept on dancing, so it is a little blurry.

Blueberry pruning workshop

Administrator — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 05:47:06 +0000

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

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.