We have 20 acres of blueberries and picking begins around mid-July. The season begins with Duke and many more varieties follow as the season progresses. Many of the varieties are available late July/early August. Our late fall variety starts around Labor Day and has been picked as late as mid-October.
Customers are always encouraged to bring their own ice cream pails. Otherwise, we will provide a pail that can be picked up at our retail. Pails can often be found around the orchard for our customers convenience. The pails are lined with sterile food safe liners. After weighing the pail, we give the customer their blueberries in the food safe liner and take back our pails for reuse.
Our scales are tared to automatically deduct the weight for the average pail.
The orchard has been designed for parking close to the blueberries. We try to accommodate our customers as much as possible. Keep in mind, we may have 400 plus cars on our busiest days. Please let us know of any special needs as we will try our best to accommodate.
On our busiest days, we will have drive up tents for paying with cash or check. Originally an idea grown from the days of covid, we have kept the drive-thru tents since they make paying quick, easy, and less stressful for people with disabilities.
Credit cards and phone payments are accepted in the retail shop along with regular forms of payment.
Our Blueberry Varieties in Order of Ripening
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Duke
Duke begins the blueberry season and has grown to be customer favorite. The variety is often available for three pickings. Picking may be a little thin by the third picking.
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Blue Jay
Blue Jay is another early blueberry. The blueberries are fantastic, but the plant itself has struggled in our soil. We’ve kept the ones that are doing well, but are eventually being replaced with Duke.
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Patriot
Patriots are known for their size. It was thee biggest berry on the market for the longest time. Its berries are sometimes the size of a quarter. Depending on the year, this variety will ripen at the same time as Duke or a week later.
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Blue Ray
Blue Ray is one of our tarter varieties. We have a niche of customers who just love this variety. If you like some tartness, this may be your jam.
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Northland
Northland are the sweetest of the blueberries. They are what is called a half-high. They are bred to be extremely cold resistant. Northland are also a smaller berry, but this makes them perfect for muffins and other bakery items.
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Blue Crop
Blue Crop is a mid season berry and quite prolific. There is no shortage of berries on these plants. These berries are sweet with a touch of zing to them.
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Reka
Reka is another half high and prolific producer. Since these bushes are young, it can be challenging to get customers to pick the with their short stature. As they grow, so does their fan followig.
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Berkeley
Berkley is a beloved berry by many of our clientele. The berry is sweet and has a slight creaminess to them. After all these years, I still struggle to accurately describe this berry. The berries themselves are fairly large. Berkley ripens mid season and the peak of our blueberry season.
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Bonus
The new biggest blueberry on the market, but were just planted in 2023. We have high hopes for this berry and plans to replace some of our Berkley acreage to expand our available varieties.
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Jersey
Our Jersey bushes are the oldest and tallest blueberries on the property. The bushes are prolific and a smaller berry. It is the last of summer berries with a ripening mid August.
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Chandler
For a brief moment, this was the new biggest berry on the block. A small patch was planted in 2020 by our fall Elliot variety. The berries are enormous with a hardier flavor. We are excited to be offering these berries in the near future.
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Elliot
Elliot is our late fall blueberry. As with all late season fruit, it can be quite tart when compared to our other varieties. Once we open for the apple season, people are allowed to pick this variety during the week. A great berry to pick in the fall if you want to avoid the summer heat.