http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?LQALT 5 August 2008 Blueberry U-Pick Simcoe, ON 27 July and 5 August I went blueberry picking at a U Pick on the 27 July. The 27 July patch was in young plants, and the picking on the 5 August was more established plants. The patch is not fully ripe, but the picking was relatively easy, and the berries are good quality. There are many blueberry U picks in my area, Southern Ontario. This use to be an extensive tobacco growing area, and now the government is forcing growers out of the business. so many are diversifying into ginseng, tomatoes, saskatoon berries, raspberries, tomatoes, soy beans, peanuts, sweet corn, potatoes,and other plants. Pickers are imported from South America for the season, and there were about 20 of these workers picking on this farm. The berries cost $1.50 per pound.
I wish there were blueberry U Picks near me. I had to pay 5.88 for two pounds in grocery store last week. I might have to try planting some blueberry bushes here. I think they are hardy in zone 3.
Don't you have saskatoon berries? They are almost the same, aand probably require less effort than blueberries. I notice some commercial growers are terting blueberries in my area.
Speaking personally, I much prefer blueberries over saskatoons. I don't know Lakeland well enough to suggest any local forests where you might find blueberries - I suspect you don't have any sandy-soiled areas nearby? I grew up near Beausejour, so we used to go every summer picking in the bush, but this was generally in open areas of jack pine forest. You've a couple good local nurseries nearby, though. Jeffries sells blueberry plants. If they're out, and you don't mind the drive, there was also a good nursery in either of Morden or Winkler that specialized (if I'm recalling correctly) in fruit-bearing shrubs.
FYI In Aldergrove, in the Fraser Valley, B.C., blueberries in case lot sales are ripe and delicious and selling for $1.75 a pound.
I wish I still lived in Burnaby. The price of blueberries is now $9.00 for 2.5 quaarts. Yikes I can actually buy them cheaper frozen. I am going to have to plant some blueberries. Anyone know how long they take to bear fruit?
The best blueberries, that I ever had were picked near the Vancouver Airport. While working in Vancouver, I had a day off an toured a blueberry farm. The production was astonishing, and the method of picking by placing a gurney under the tree and tapping the stem with a paper towel center absolutely amazed me. I picked 10 lbs. and took them back to Toronto on my flight. All picking is other locations is done by hand, this unique method was only observed in Vancouver. Maybe the type of cultivar. That experience has always been my standard for what blueberries should be in appearance. I have picked blueberries in Ontario, cultivated which are great quality, and wild which are marginal; in New Brunswick, wild which are the best, Newfoundland which are abundant, but small.
If you buy an established plants at a nursery they may have fruit on them already. In Langley, prices range from around $6.00 to 18 per plant (size). I have read that you are suppose to take the flower buds off the first year so as not to have the plant fruit. I have never done this. If you grow a plant from a cutting, it is suppose to take several years (3-4) before it bears fruit.
