Blueberry Pickin'

Terry and I went blueberry pickin' this morning at Murphy's Farm just west of Mansfield. It's a pick-youself operation although they do have some quarts for sale at $4 each.

The place is at the top of the hill and faces south with a gorgeous view. We arrived early and there were still several people there already. It was still cool and yet the sun was warming our backs as we worked. Being a Monday, there were lots and lots of ripe berries on the bushes and we only traveled about ten yards down our respective rows (about 10 plants in all). We picked for just one hour and each filled our bucket. I have to say it was nice to be able to pick berries without a thought of thorns and stickers. I feel like I gave a pint of blood picking raspberries and blackberries. I may have to invest in a kevlar jacket. Plus it was a whole lot easier than hauling stone out of the woods.

When we checked out, we had a nice talk with Deb Murphy who was manning the scales and cash register. The cost was $1.40 per pound and we each had over four pounds f blueberries. According to Ms. Murphy it takes, on average, 1 1/2 pounds to make a quart. So by picking them ourselves, we got them for half price over the going rate in the stores.

I asked her about the time it took to get her place in operation and she said that from the time they first put the bushes in it took around 6-7 years before they had a crop large enough to open for a u-pick business. Every January they start pruning the bushes. They take out half of the new growth and half of the old growth. It may take them all of January and February to get all their plants pruned properly. And they may have to dig the snow out of the way to do the job. She says they really, really hate that part! But the work they put in has yielded a beautiful blueberry farm. Their bushes cover about 2 acres and they are constantly adding plants. I could see five or six relatively new rows as well as the odd plant here and there where an old plant had to be replaced.

Ms. Murphy says that they will still be open daily until around the 19th of August. After that it will be Saturdays only until the berries are gone. I may go back again later this week.

We put 3 quarts of berries in the freezer (for pancakes, buckle and muffins), one quart in the fridge (for cereal), and the rest (3 quarts) we made into Blueberry Jam--7+ pints of it. (That's 7 quarts for a little over $12 and a little sweat equity.)