Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Purchasing Blueberries
When are blueberries in season and available to purchase?
Our blueberries generally come into season late June or the first week of July until the end of August. We will post announcements on our website and social media outlets and via email to those signed up for our newsletter when our farm stand opens for the season! We also do our best to post and send updates with each change in variety across the season.
Do you offer blueberry U-pick?
Unfortunately we do not offer u-pick on our farms. We love the atmosphere surrounding bringing family and friends to pick berries, though we take our food safety seriously and offering u-pick does not allow us to uphold the same quality of standards.
What size boxes do you sell and how do I pick the right size box to purchase?
We currently sell 3, 5, and 10 lb boxes. Our smaller 3 and 5 lb boxes are generally good for having berries on hand to eat fresh, and we recommend our larger 10 lb boxes for those looking to freeze some berries as well.
How do I order and purchase my blueberries?
Fresh blueberries are available for purchase every day during the harvest season. Please check our home page or contact page for our farm stand hours. No pre-ordering is necessary when purchasing quantities under 50 lbs, and we appreciate a heads up for any orders larger than that! You are welcome to place your orders through our online order form or through contacting us via phone or email, and please reach out if you need any assistance.
Do you clean and wash the blueberries before they are packed into boxes?
We do not clean or wash our berries before they are packed and sold, as washing and packing large quantities of fresh, wet berries can be detrimental to fruit quality. While we have food safety protocols in place to keep our growing and harvesting as clean as possible, farms are farms and we do recommend washing your berries before consumption!
What are your customer satisfaction policies?
Please see here for our quality guarantee!
Farming and Food Safety Practices
Do you spray your blueberries/are they organic?
The farm is not certified organic! An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Plan is in place for the farm, which utilizes a combination of annual soil analyses, plant health testing, weekly pest monitoring, and consultations with a registered agronomist to manage plant health, pests, and diseases in an environmentally sound and food-safe manner. Pesticides/fungicides are used sparingly to care for the plants and fruit, although this IPM plan allows us to keep that as minimal as possible. It also manages the type, quantity, method, and interval of sprays to minimize any harm to the environment and people, and no berries are harvested that have recently been sprayed and aren’t past their safe harvest interval. The farm is also audited yearly by a third-party organization for sustainability, worker safety/wellbeing, and food safety. We know how important it is to know where your food comes from and how it is produced, and we are always here to answer questions and provide more information.
How are your blueberries harvested and are they clean?
Our blueberries are harvested by hand and by machine depending on the variety, quality of the fruit, and how ripening progresses. Hand-picking blueberries is our preferred harvesting method as it is the gentlest on the fruit and our plants. Because this method is time and labor-intensive, we prioritize hand-picking our highest quality berries, which is most often our first and/or second picks of each variety and depends on numerous factors such as pollination, soil quality, air temperature, precipitation, etc. We machine-pick our blueberries usually when they are quite ripe and/or during their later picks, as the harvesters are harder on the plants and can remove developing green berries. While we do not wash our berries, we enforce strict hand-washing protocols for our hand-pickers and do not let berries ever touch the ground once they are harvested. Any buckets or flats that berries come in contact with are frequently washed to maintain food safety standards. For our machine-picked fruit, the harvester is washed every day, and our workers also follow strict hand-washing protocols and minimize direct contact with the fruit. Our farm is also audited yearly by a third-party organization for food safety. We prioritize food safety while harvesting our berries, though we always recommend thoroughly washing your berries before they are consumed.
Our berries that are packed and sold at our farm stands are almost always hand-picked, as getting the best quality blueberries to our customers is a priority to us.
How are your blueberries packed and how do you maintain food safety standards?
Once our blueberries are harvested, they come to our on-farm packing facility where they are stored in a cool, shaded space until it comes time to pack them. The berries are run through a blower and cleaning belt, one flat at a time, where debris, small berries, softened fruit, shriveled fruit, green fruit, and broken fruit are removed before the berries are packed into their respective boxes. We minimize hand-contact with our berries, though similarly to our harvest protocols, we maintain strict hand-washing and cleanliness protocols in our packing facility to maintain food safety standards.