Fun at the Farmer’s Market

We had a great time at the Winter Farmer’s market held at Wentworth Greenhouses in Rollinsford.  This is a picture of Michael and his favorite mother-in-law prior to the opening.  Seacoast Eat Local and Wentworth Greenhouse have another farmer’s market scheduled for Saturday, December 5 http://www.seacoasteatlocal.org/winterfarmersmarkets/ .  We won’t be participating as we sold most of our frozen blueberries at the last market but there were many many great farms and vendors who will be returning.

For the past few weeks we have been busy pruning the blueberry bushes in our third field.  Most growers recommend that blueberry bushes can be pruned starting in March and continuing up to blossom time.  However, because of the number of bushes we need to prune and because of advice from other growers, we have started pruning in November and will continue until it gets too cold (for us and the bushes!)  We resume pruning in March and April which usually allows us the needed time to prune all 6000 plants.  Stay tuned for a pruning workshop which will be held at the farm sometime in March in conjunction with UNH Cooperative Extension.

Lots of Frozen Blueberries!

This picture was snapped during the summer before we had stuffed the entire freezer with quart bags of blueberries.  We will be selling the frozen berries  at the Winter Farmer’s Market to be held November 21 from 10am until 2pm at Wentworth Greenhouses located in Rollinsford, NH  http://www.seacoasteatlocal.org/winterfarmersmarkets/index.html.

In addition to the blueberries, we will be selling jams, baked goods and blueberry canes for holiday decorating (blueberry canes turn red in the winter).  This will be our first ever farmer’s market and we are looking forward to participating with all the superb vendors.  Hope you can make it to Rollinsford on Saturday!

 

Rocks, Rocks and More Rocks

What started as a fall project to remove a few pesky stones from the parking lot became a much larger job.  As you can see from the photo, not only do we grow highbush blueberries but it seems we also grow very large rocks.  Even our dog in the lower right corner is aghast!  Once our contractor, Scott, started digging…he couldn’t stop.  Actually, he has a nifty machine which took care of all those stones in a short amount of time.  So next time you come to the farm, you won’t have to maneuver your car around the rocks and if you’d like a rock or two…they’re free!

Last Hurrah!

The blueberry season is officially over at Berrybogg Farm and overall the season was a success.  Definitely too much rain in July but August was much better and of course the berries seemed to do very well with all the rain.   Don’t forget that we will be selling blueberry plants in May so give us a call at 603-664-2100 before Mother’s Day and check our website for specific times and dates for blueberry plants.

We will leave you with a few pictures of the end of summer picking.

Ringing the bell for the last customer to come out of the fields!  Below are  some of the last customers checking out!

Almost Over But Still Good Picking!

We have a variety of blueberries in our first field called Late Blues and when the first customer brings down a bucket (not quite ripe) then we know the season is getting near the end.  Unfortunately, that happened today and coincidentally this will be the last week for our college bound employees who we will miss very much.  We wish Ben, Chris and Liz much luck (and fun!) during the school year and a big thank you for being great employees.  Below is a picture of the boys with just picked fruit.

The next photo is of Liz standing in deep water after a huge thunderstorm last week.  We actually dragged out the sump pump to get rid of water so customers could get into the second field.

The following photos are of just some of the customers who came to visit us during the week.  The season is not quite over so make sure you come out for the last hurrah!

And finally a big thank you to our handyman, weekend warrior and bug expert Michael who commutes to Massachusetts to work all week and works all weekend during the blueberry season.  Someone buy that man a beer!

Tremendous Picking Conditions

The rain has stopped just in time for peak picking conditions and this could be our best season yet for blueberries!  We are now picking in all three fields and will open the Jersey variety for picking this weekend which is looking very good.  We anticipate that our season will reach into early September but always call first at the end of August and early September to make sure we are open.  Here are some pictures taken over the last week of blueberry pickers leaving with their bounty!

Can you spot the triplets in the above photo?

Bountiful Berries

This young lady (along with her mom, dad and brother) broke the record for largest and most clever blueberry container.  Behold 30 pounds of blueberries all ready to travel home to become yummy goodies and I’m sure to be frozen.  Freezing blueberries is quite easy.  Spread the blueberries in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place the sheet in your freezer.  When the blueberries are frozen, remove from the freezer and pack in freezer bags.  Remove all air from the bags and send your frozen blueberries back to the freezer.  They should stay fresh for up to one year.

Friends George, Lisa and Lexi were out to visit this past weekend and found a blueberry jackpot out in the back of our first field.  The rain has actually been great for the blueberries and coupled with some much needed sun and heat, the crop is truely one of the best.   You will not be disappointed when you come to pick blueberries this summer!

Today was a perfect day for a swim and late this afternoon a river otter was spotted sunning himself in the pond on the big rock.  So far this week we have spotted the otter, deer in our third field, a mink diving into the pond, an eagle circling over the second field after we had closed last night and a Scarlet Tanager bird in the first field.  Come early for the best chance of spotting some wildlife and be very very quiet!

Fantastic Season

 

We are currently starting our second week of picking and all three fields are coming on strong.  Blueberry plants love rain and coupled with the excellent pollination we received in May, the plants are loaded with fruit.   We are open everyday except Monday and except in cases of torrential rain and thunderstorms we are open for picking. 

These lucky kids are having a great summer and scored a ride out on the golf cart.  We primarily use the golf cart to take people who have a hard time walking from the parking lot to the fields but we are always happy to give anyone a ride if we aren’t busy.

One of our Bow Lake neighbors came to pick Sunday with the young couple who are visiting from Switzerland.  They had a lot of fun and were amazed at how many blueberry plants were on the farm.  Unfortunately, the gentleman on the right lost his prescription glasses in row 13 of the first field and has yet to be able to find them.  Be on the lookout all first field pickers!

We provide buckets and bags for customers but a lot of our customers bring their own containers and these are two of our friends checking out with their lovely baskets.  If you bring your own containers, please let us weigh them before you go out to pick.

Finally, a picture of my nephews polishing off a pie but before that, they were in our second field busily picking blueberries.  Their brother is off to the side examining the many creatures which inhabit our pond.  On Tuesday I spotted a mink and yesterday we had a chorus of bullfrogs chanting to the customers.  Sometimes we are lucky to spot river otters playing in the pond or the large snapping turtle sunning himself on the large rock in the middle.    Who knows what you’ll see at the farm!

Happy Pickers

The farm opened for picking on Wednesday and this happy group emerged from our third field with lots of good blueberries.  Today’s weather was a bit on the warm side which has been something we haven’t seen much of this summer!   We definitely recommend bringing mosquito spray for early morning and late afternoon picking.

Although we are about 4 or 5 days behind schedule because of the weather, we are very pleased with the crop this year.   The blueberries have thrived with an abundance of rain and the pollination of our blossoms in May was excellent.   We expect our second field with Northland and Blueray varieties to open some time next week and this field also promises a very good crop.

It was great seeing returning customers over the last two days and also meeting new customers.   Our apologies to anyone who had a difficult time finding our farm.  Sometimes a GPS will send you to 650 Province Rd. in Barrington.  We are located on 650 Province Road in Strafford across the street from Bow Lake.

Happy 4TH of July

We hope everyone is having an enjoyable fourth of July.  The rain has finally stopped (sort of) and we are hoping for the blueberries to soak in the sun and ripen soon.  In the meantime, here’s our favorite blueberry pie recipe for you to enjoy!

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cold butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

Filling Ingredients:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon butter
6 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Combine the salt and flour in large bowl; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add enough water just until flour is moistened.

3. Divide dough in half; shape each half into ball then flatten slightly. Wrap 1 ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

4. Roll out half the dough with a floured rolling pin on lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle.

5. Place into a 9 inch pie pan, pressing firmly against bottom and sides. Trim crust to 1/2 inch from edge of pan.

6. Combine 2 tablespoons flour and sugar together. Stir in the blueberries and lemon juice.

7. Spoon blueberry mixture into prepared pie crust and dot with remaining butter.

8. Roll out the chilled dough into a 12-inch circle.

9. Place dough over filling and seal with bottom crust. Flute edges of crust and cover edge of crust with 2-inch strip of aluminum foil.

10. Bake for 35 minutes; remove the aluminum foil from around the edges. Continue baking for an additional 10 to 20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.