Blueberry Bloom

Bloom is a protective, natural wax coating on the berries.

When you’re picking in the blueberry fields this summer, take a closer look at the many shades of blue covering the bushes. Berries don’t all ripen at the same time and the developing fruit may be green, purple, or a deep blue. Many of the ripe ones even appear a dusky shade of light blue, caused by a thin white coating on the berry. That color is caused by bloom – a natural wax produced by the blueberries to help protect their skins from the elements.

Bloom is a naturally-occurring shield on other fruits – such as apples and pears too. If you have ever shined an apple on your shirt before taking the first bite, then you just wiped off the bloom!

As a natural product produced by the plant, bloom is safe to eat and helps preserve the fruit longer. But don’t worry if your fingers wipe off some of the waxy coating as you pick! Blueberries will keep for up to two weeks if kept dry and stored in the refrigerator.

Get Ready for Blueberries!

Is that blue I see?

July is around the corner and blueberry season is quickly approaching! Because blueberries are planted on areas of the farm with different microclimates, some fields ripen sooner than others. A few berries are already starting to turn that beautiful deep blue color at our Coyote Den field on Pumpkinseed Hill. Keep checking in toward the end of this week for updates on the first picking day of the season!

Netting the Blueberries

Setting up the new blueberry netting at Pumpkinseed Hill

New posts have been sunk into the soil and a canopy of blue netting is protecting the Coyote Den blueberries at Pumpkinseed Hill. The new system of posts and netting will help fend off the constant attacks of hungry birds. We estimate that we lose 1/3 of our crop every summer to wildlife.

A high canopy of netting protects berries from hungry birds.

The new posts and netting are replacing the low mesh that used to drape the tops of the blueberries. We’re excited that we won’t need to bend down to enter the field and pick during this upcoming season! The hot weather that we’ve been experiencing has started to push the blueberries to ripeness, and already there are a few blues popping up among the green berries in our fields. Picking season will be here before we know it!

Preserving the Taste of Summer

Freshly harvested strawberries in the farm’s walk-in cooler, waiting to be made into jam at the end of a previous harvest season.

Peak season picking is upon us, and the fields are filled with literally tons of berries. Strawberry season passes by in a flash, and preserving the harvest has always been an important part of the farm life. There is nothing like the taste of summer berries in the depths of winter to stir dreams of a new harvest season. The summer interns are busy harvesting berries to make fresh strawberry jam, and based on conversations with our visitors it sounds like many of you are too!

If you’ve never tried making jam or canning food, now is the perfect time to try! The smaller berries ripening at this point of the season are packed with intense flavor, perfect for homemade jam. The library is packed with books on preserving foods, and how-to videos are available on many internet sites.

If you’re still looking for more hands-on instruction check out the Harvest Kitchen’s series of Farm Food Preservation workshops in August! As an early fruit strawberries will be long gone by that time, but August is the time when gardens are bursting with fresh fruits and vegetables in Connecticut. Canning and jam-making are just two of the ways to preserve the harvest and spread the wealth all year long!

Strawberry Pests

The summer weeding crew hard at work.

Caring for 15 acres of strawberries is hard work, and our summer interns have delved into weed control already in their first week at the berry fields. Weeds tend to crop up in bare soil, especially in areas that have been recently cultivated. The farm-produced straw that lines the walking aisles helps keep the weeds in check, but weed seeds find space to germinate in between the strawberry plants.

One of the weeds we’ve been tackling this week is oxalis (aka wood sorrel). This plant’s clover-shaped leaves and small yellow flowers seem harmless in the middle of a strawberry field, but once they start to grow seed pods the race is on to wipe them out. Once the pods open, thousands of oxalis seeds fly through the air and blanket the field in quick-growing weeds. If our summer crew doesn’t keep up with their weeding tasks, oxalis can overrun a field for years.

Oxalis can quickly overrun a field if not weeded consistently throughout the growing season.

Luckily, this year’s summer interns have taken on the challenge of weed control and have cleaned up some of the worst areas of oxalis. Does that mean it’s time for a break? Nope, next up is the dreaded chickweed.

Strawberries are Here!

This week marked the beginning of strawberry season, the earliest harvest date ever for our berry crop! We’re still in early season picking conditions, but there are lots of juicy red berries among the green fruit still waiting to ripen. The main varieties we grow are All Star, Cavendish, Dasrselect, Early Glow, Eros and Kent.

First fruits of the summer!

The Jones farmers are constantly testing new varieties for growth habits, taste, and disease resistance to produce the best tasting crop throughout an extended picking season. After planting a small amount of a new variety last year called Rubycon, we are harvesting this special strawberry for the first time. Rubycon was developed by Dr. Richard Cowles at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and is one of the varieties ready for harvest early in the season.

The beautiful weather this week is allowing the strawberries to ripen quickly, so we hope to see everyone in the fields over the next couple of weeks! Check out the Harvest Kitchen’s recipe page for delicious ways to use your fresh strawberries!

A Stranger on the Road

Box turtles can completely withdraw into their shells and close themselves in – the only Connecticut turtle with this ability!

While driving by the blueberry fields this morning I spotted a surprise guest – a box turtle in the middle of the road! This little turtle was walking across the middle of one of our berry ferry roads, a wide gravel path that we use to transport guests during to the fields during the harvest season. Box turtles live in wooded areas and grassy fields, so he seems to have found a great home near the Valley Farm blueberry fields (I say “he” because male box turtles usually have red eyes or bright orange eyes, while females’ eyes tend to be light orange or brown). This particular turtle seemed to be heading toward one of the irrigation ditches near the field for a quick dip in the shallow water.

Box turtles are currently listed as a “species of special concern” by the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Although once common throughout the state, populations have been declining due to habitat loss and illegal collection. Lucky for this turtle there is still plenty of space to live at the farm!