Waiting

In January we usually start watching for days that are mild enough to get out in the field and prune the bushes.  Pruning almost 1,000 bushes takes many days and many hours so we really like to get started as early as possible.

The following is a pruning/weather report for January 2010.

January 1-10:  Temps well below 30 degrees most days.  We had a really nice 6 inch snowfall in late December and it's still on the ground.  No pruning.

January 11-24:  There was a warming spell with some days seeing temps as high as 63!  The snow melted but left behind some very sloshy ground.  Getting down on your hands and knees or sitting on wet, muddy ground while you prune is no one's idea of fun.  So while the weather was picture perfect for pruning the ground conditions weren't.  No pruning.

January 25-31:  Temps went back down into the 20's and we had another 5-6 inch snowfall.  No pruning.

The month of January was pretty quiet at the farm.  There's a peacefulness that blankets the bushes waiting to bud, the bee hives waiting to bustle with activity, and the pond waiting for life to take on it's spring and summer energy.

And yet with all the stillness there is a lot going on that can't be seen.  New buds are forming and waiting to flower and become the new crop of blueberries we'll all enjoy this summer.  We'll wait for the berries and we'll leave the pruning to another day while we wait for mild weather and dry ground in February.

The Golf Course Connection

Q: What do golf courses and this blueberry farm have in common?

Is it:

1. They both have sand pits.     No, the berry farm doesn't have any sand pits.

2. They both have a swanky club house where you can enjoy a nice luncheon.      No.  No swank of any kind at the berry farm.  It's a "bring your own lunch" kind of place.

3. They both have an abundance of bermuda grass.     Correct!   Bermuda grass is the common thread that connects our berry farm with every golf course in the country.

Bermuda grass does wonderful things to golf courses.  It grows thick and fast.  It's very hardy.  It's very green and can tolerate abuse and still look great.  It's the bermuda grass that makes those putting greens and fairways so beautiful.

Bermuda grass at the farm doesn't achieve the same affect.  All the qualities that make it the grass of choice for golf courses: hardy, durable, thick, fast growing, and tolerant, make it a real pain in the neck at the farm!

Bermuda grass is what we do when there are no berries to be picked.  It has to be pulled, raked, hauled, piled and burned.  It grows into the blueberry bushes and if left unchecked grows quickly into a thick tangled mass that's difficult to pull out.

This young man LOVES golf.  He plays golf, watches golf, dreams about golf in his sleep.  We told him that golf courses and the blueberry farm have a lot in common.   Right now he's not seeing it.  He doesn't get the connection.  But he keeps on working in hopes that somewhere a lush fairway will emerge.  We told him that he would see it better this summer when things green up.  He'll get to mow the "fairways".

This is the bermuda grass at the farm.  After the close of the berry season we spend days and days in the fall pulling, piling and burning.

Yes, there is a connection to golf courses here at the farm.  In chilly November, down on your knees it's a little hard to grasp but it's there.  You just have to imagine really hard.

CLOSED for the season

This comes as a disappointment to us and I'm sure to you as well. The berries that we anticipated getting ripe have not ripened or have been eaten by birds. I know some of you were counting on getting out to the farm one more time but there just aren't enough berries left to open for public picking.

We thank all of you for coming out this season. We look forward to seeing you all next year.

We'll continue to post updates to the blog; recipes, farm work notes, etc. so check in every once in a while to keep up with what's going on. Most importantly we'll let you know when the berries are ripe next season.

If you aren't on our email list and would like to be notified by email about the first day of picking next year you can sign up at info@heritagefamilyfarms.net .

Thanks again. See you next year!

Celebrate the 4th with this great pie!

This pie is really impressive and a great dessert for the 4th of July with it's red, white, and blue colors! We won 2nd place in a pie contest with this recipe. Tastes as good as it looks!

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Pie

1 pie crust recipe-single crust
**Prepare pie crust. Roll out and line a 9-inch pie pan. With extra crust cut out stars with 2-3 inch star cookie cutter. Bake crust in a 450 degree oven until lightly browned.
Stars: 2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel.
Brush over stars. Bake at 450 for 6-8 minutes.
Allow crust and stars to cool.

Filling
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped
In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon peel until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into cooled pie crust, spread evenly. Spoon cooled blueberry filling over lemon filling.

Topping
You can use a 21 oz can of blueberry pie filling but if you have your own blueberries here's how to make fruit filling for the top. (**Note added later: This will make more topping than you need for one pie, about 6 cups. Cut it in half or make 2 pies. Sorry for any confusion.)

6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (thaw frozen berries completely and reserve juices)

3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Combine the above dry ingredients in a saucepan.
Add:
1/2 cup water/ blueberry juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whisk into dry ingredients until smooth. Cook over medium heat until bubbly.
Decrease heat and cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Add fruit and stir until evenly coated. Remove from heat. Allow to cool before topping cheesecake.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with star cut-out strawberry fans and whipped cream.

Strawberry fans: use firm berries with stems. Starting at tip, cut into thin slices almost to stem. Spread slices to form open fans.

Rain.......

We do not allow pickers to pick in the rain. Looks like there is a good storm system coming this way this morning. We will call people out of the field if it begins to rain and not allow any picking until the storm passes.
Thanks for your cooperation.

Friday picking...........

The farm will be open Friday morning from 7:30-12 but you need to know that the picking will be more difficult. We had a huge turn out tonight (over 800 pounds picked in 3 1/2 hours!) and the bushes were picked heavily.

We will not be open Saturday, July4.

We'll evaluate the field Sunday to determine if we'll be open Monday.

Happy 4th of July!

OPEN Thursday evening

The farm will be open for picking Thursday evening from 5-8pm. There are a lot of
ripe berries now so come out and get a bucket or two!

Friday: We'll evaluate the field Thursday evening to determine if we'll open Friday morning.

We will not be open Saturday, July 4. Enjoy the holiday!

Hope to see you at the farm.

Closed Wednesday

Still need some ripening time. We'll evaluate the field tomorrow and let you know if
we will be open Thursday evening or not. Lots of berries are ripening.........
Thanks for your patience!

Closed Monday and Tuesday

The farm is closed today and Tuesday evening. We probably won't open until later in the week. Stay tuned for updates.
There are a lot of berries that still need to ripen so the season isn't over yet...........

Blueberry Cobbler

This is really good with homemade ice-cream or fresh cream!


6 cups frozen blueberries
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract




Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter an 8-by-8-by-2-inch baking dish.
Mix the blueberries with 1/3 cup of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the flour. Spoon into the baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and 3 tablespoons of sugar with the baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender.
Add the milk and vanilla and stir with a fork to form a wet, sticky dough. Drop rounded teaspoons of the dough over the top of the blueberries to cover them.
Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar on top of the cobbler.


Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden-brown and bubbling.
Let the cobbler cool for at least 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Closed Saturday

The berries need time to ripen so the farm will be closed not only today but for the next few days.
We'll let you know as soon as we open again.

Thanks for your patience.

Chocolate Covered Blueberries

This recipe is a snap to make yet it has a bit of gourmet flair. Serve them for a party or a quick dessert. They store well in the refrigerator for a few days. We passed these out at the farm last Saturday and they were a big hit. Even the kids can help make these!

Chocolate Covered Blueberries
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and thoroughly dried. (Dry is very important or the chocolate won't stick)

In a double boiler or medium bowl over simmering water, melt chocolate chips. Stir in shortening. Add blueberries and gently stir until well coated.
Drop by teaspoonfuls to form small clusters onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Chill until firm. Once the clusters are firm transfer to a container. Serve on a plate or in paper candy cups. Keeps for 2 to 3 days in covered container in the refrigerator.

Here's a thought....If you use dark chocolate you get a treat loaded with health benefits and very little guilt. It's a well known fact that blueberries are loaded with good things like antioxidants and vitamins so a dessert with blueberries just has to be good for you. If you use dark chocolate then you get even more health benefits. Dark chocolate may lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and contains antioxidants. Seems like a win, win dessert to me. I'm all for healthy but yummy!

Enjoy!

Closed Saturday

Sorry for the inconvenience but the farm will be closed Saturday. In fact, we are closing for a few days so stay tuned and we'll let you know when we'll be open again.

We've had a lot of people picking in the past week and the ripe berries are picked out. The berries that remain need time to ripen. Not sure how long that will take so the best we can do is let you know on the blog or on the phone message. Keep checking back for updates....

In the meantime I'm going to post some of our favorite recipes. All of them include blueberries of course! I'll get started on that later today.

Have a great weekend. Stay cool...........

Open Friday

The farm will be open Friday from 7:30-12:00pm.

There are ripe berries but you will need to look for them a little harder than you did at the start of the season. Look for berries in places most people don't pick---up high, down low, and in the middle of the bush.

See you there!

Questions and Answers about orders

Just in case you were wondering what happens when you order pre-picked berries....

Q- Where do the pre-picked berries come from
A- We fill orders with berries harvested from our farm.

Q-When are the berries picked?
A- The berries are harvested on the day you are scheduled to pick them up. To give our pickers time to harvest the berries we ask you to pick up your order at the end of our business day, 11:30am or 7:30pm.

Q-What happens to the berries after you pick them?
A- Berries are sorted by hand to remove stems, leaves, bugs, damaged and under-ripe berries. They are then weighed, bagged, labeled, and stored in our walk-in cooler until you pick them up.


Q-Do you wash the berries in my order?
A-No. We do not spay our berries with anything so there are no chemical residues to remove. Dry berries store longer than berries that are wet. Rinse your berries just before use.

Q-How do you fill an order for frozen berries?
A-The same way we fill orders for fresh berries. Orders for frozen berries are filled with berries from the current season. They are sorted,weighed, bagged, labeled, and then quick frozen immediately. This ensures you are getting the freshest berries possible.

Q-Why don't you hold fresh berries for pick up on another day?
A-We want your berries to be as fresh as possible when you pick them up so you get the benefit of high quality berries. Also, we do not operate the walk-in cooler when the farm is closed so there is no way to keep fresh berries cool. Orders for fresh berries that aren't picked up the day they are harvested are put into the freezer. We can sell them to you frozen or re-pick your order at a later time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Q-Why do you stop taking orders?
A-Orders come in quickly once the season begins. Because we fill orders the day they are picked up we are limited in how many orders we can fill each day. As the season goes on the amount of berries in the field decreases and it becomes more difficult to fill orders. We don't want to promise berries to you and then not be able to fill the order. After we have caught up we sometimes begin taking orders again.

Open Thursday

We will be open for picking Thursday evening from 5-8pm.

We won't be taking any more pre-pick orders. We are backlogged
through July 7th and can't be sure that the field will supply enough
berries after that. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Open Wednesday

We will be open today from 7:30am until 12 noon.

The farm will be open Tuesday Evening

Hours are 5-8pm. After 3 days of ripening it looks good for picking.

Closed Monday, June 22

After reviewing the field this evening we've decided that it would be best to let the berries ripen another day.

We plan to open again Tuesday evening, June 23, from 5-8pm.

Busy, busy Saturday

What a great day at the farm. We had a record number of people picking today. A record number since we have owned it, I should say. Over 1,000 pounds of berries were picked!
It looked like rain when we opened this morning but all we got were a few sprinkles. The cloud cover and steady breeze was a welcome relief from the hot, humid conditions. By late morning the clouds were gone, the sun was out and temperatures started to climb. That didn't seem to deter too many people as we still had cars pulling in steadily most of the morning. People were very patient standing in a long line to check out.

Because of the large number of berries picked we will evaluate the field Sunday to determine if we will open Monday or not. Sometimes the berries that are left on the bushes are not quite ripe and need a day or two to ripen. For this reason it's always wise to call the farm or check the blog before you come out to pick. We always feel bad when people show up to pick and find the farm closed. This happened Friday and we again apologize to those who came to pick but were faced with a CLOSED sign instead. Thanks for your understanding.