New Comments

---

5/12/22

The past 2-3 weeks weather have been about as bad as it gets for optimum pollination. However, although cold rainy conditions kept most honey bees in the hives, we have a pretty good population of wild and bumble bees on the blossoms whenever there are breaks in the weather.  We should get a better read on fruit set in the next couple of weeks.

6/15/22Although we have been experiencing some pretty adverse weather, fruit set looks reasonably good. Most rows have lots of large clusters of large (green) berries.  At this point it is difficult to predict when we will have enough ripe berries to start picking.  As usual, it all depends on the weather, but if we get the customary warm, dry conditions for this time of year, we could open the second week in July.  (The flocks of birds have arrived on schedule and are already harvesting green Spartans)

7/08/22

We will start the 2022 UPick season Friday, 7/15/22. Picking hours are 8:00 am - 2:00 pm, Monday thru Saturday each week until most of the berries are picked.  (Closed Sunday)  Price this year will be the same as the past several seasons at $1.50 per pound. We are now able to accept payment by credit /debit card, as well as cash and checks.  We will provide buckets to pick in (or you may bring your own).  With either option, pickers need to bring containers to take berries home.

Early Bluecrop picking should be very good, with lots of clusters of big berries. Although pollination and weather this spring was not optimum, berry quality is generally quite good. (pretty sweet with good flavor).  As usual, berries will get sweeter with more days of sunshine as they ripen.  Unfortunately, news is not good for Spartan pickers.  Gigantic flocks of birds ate most Spartans while the berries were still green.  (There are still some nice berries)

7/16/22

This season got off to a good start, with ideal picking weather for most of the day.  The relatively late opening this year allowed Bluecrop to fully ripen a higher percentage of berries in the clusters.  This resulted in noticeably easier and faster picking. ( A lot of buckets were picked. Our informal polling results at checkout showed 98% of pickers happy with their picking experience, 5% thought  some berries are too sweet, and 1% were undecided.)

Green berries in the clusters should ripen quickly with the onset of higher temperatures and removal of ripe berries from the clusters.

7/26/22

Friday, July 29 will be the last day to UPick for this season. Although this has been one of our shorter seasons, we had some very good picking days and were able to provide nice berries, make new and renew long-term friendships.  All things considered, a pretty good season.