Weather, Blueberries Looking Nice at Farmer Mac's

We've gotten this season off to a good start. Many of you should have received our postcards saying that we are officially open. We had a great first weekend and are looking forward to Memorial Weekend coming up.

The weather is supposed to be hot tomorrow but getting gradually cooler as the week progresses. I hope they aren't just teasing as it was around 90 today and should be that again tomorrow. No rain in the forecast for the Wrightsville Beach Farmers Market on Monday. If you're not otherwise occupied, come on out and see what's going on. We'll be there just on the other side of the drawbridge with other market vendors from 8am - 1pm.

Or come out to the farm and pick you own! We have a nice crop in the back field. The front field is skimpy because the plants themselves are puny. This will be the last harvest on the remaining taller bushes in the front field. As soon as harvest ends, we'll pull out the rest of those plants and replace them with the nursery stock that we have growing around the farm in too many places to mention.

It seems like we've been in the grow-out phase for a very long time! We started in 2005 with a small nursery section to begin our staggered transition over a multiple year progression across the field. Then the frost of 2007 not only wiped out our nursery stock, it damaged the Oneals which have been our signature blueberries since we got this operation started. Those mature plants have deteriorated every year since then but many of them are still hanging in, producing fruit for your family and ours.

Now that we've finally gotten enough nursery stock to replace them, we'll be completing that transition this year. Next year we'll work on the transition of the old Croatan variety in the back field. We've got some new Croatan plants in pots around the yard that can be planted in addition to the new varieties that we are going to try. In the back half of the front field we have New Hanover plants. This variety is about the same season as the Croatan but it is more durable in a rainy season that what we see with the Croatan variety.

And if this is way too much information than you ever wanted to know about a blueberry, don't worry! You don't have to remember any of it. Just remember this. We have been serving this community for the past 26 years and we hope to continue to provide the highest quality, best tasting blueberries that you can find anywhere. While we're doing that, we'll also keep your children entertained with farm animals and outdoor life while you are with us. We might even provide our own kids to help model the way of picking the best blueberries money can buy. They love that job!