After today's picking, it's clear that we will only have one more day of picking this season and we have a special plan for that day. In years past, Hillside Blueberries was always committed to feeding the community. That included charitable donations to food banks and we're committed to continuing the tradition.
Here's how we're going to do it. We will open for one final special event next weekend where volunteers will help us glean the field of all remaining fruit which will then be donated to the Oregon Food Bank. Volunteers will get berries! Full details will be in the invitation email. Everyone on our mailing list will receive an email invite. There are only 2 ways you would be on our mailing list:
If you've done one or both, you WILL receive an email by this Thursday with details. If you do not see the email, please contact us by Friday morning.
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This is probably the last weekend of the season that we will be open to the public. There will still be one more opportunity to pick, but the invitation for that private event will only go out to those on our mailing list.
Picking conditions and fruit quality are the best of the season for Nelsons! The improvement in flavor over the past 2 weeks is rather amazing. Spartans are now just a fading memory. We're open for sure on Saturday (7am-11am with last entry at 10:30am). But definitely check the site tomorrow night if you're planning on coming out Sunday as we may need to close to leave enough fruit for the aforementioned special event. It was a relatively mellow weekend on the Farm with easy pickin' on Nelsons and slim pickin' for the last few Spartans. Nelsons will continue to be easy pickin' this weekend. The following pics were taken after we closed on Sunday! It's no secret that most visitors to the farm tend to prefer the Spartans over the Nelsons, but we're rapidly developing a little theory about that. It becomes clearer and clearer with each passing week. 3 weeks ago, before we even opened the Nelsons, it was indeed no contest. 2 weeks ago when we opened, the popularity of Spartans still made sense to our taste buds. But this past weekend, the competition became a bit more interesting.
So here's the theory: there's a week or two of overlap in the varieties when Spartans are at their peak and Nelsons aren't yet truly ready. I think by this weekend, you'd be able to blind taste test side by side and have a hard time picking the winner (and if you come out this weekend and disagree, let us know at checkout. All feedback is good feedback, and maybe it will lead to new varieties in the future). All that to say: it might make sense to at least come and try a few Nelsons. We're not sure exactly what the following weekend will hold, but it may well be invite-only for "gleaning" (getting all remaining fruit off the plants). Just thinking out loud here, but that will likely involve berry-based compensation for attendees who pick 10lbs or more (think: 5lb for you and 5lb to the Oregon Food Bank etc.) You'll need to be on the mailing list to get an invite, so be sure to sign up if you haven't already. Here's the Link. Nelsons will be open at 7am on Sunday 7/23/23.
Last entrance at 10:30am. Pick until 11am. SPARTANS (the larger, sweeter, earlier variety) The Spartans are pretty much done for this season. A few of the green berries may ripen up by next week, and a few of the smallest berries that have been left on the plants are still great, but don't plan to bring them home in any impressive quantities. We're not going to officially rope off that side of the field for those who just want to find a handful of berries. NELSONS (the medium-large, firmer, more complex variety that ripens later) Different story here... There are still a ton of Nelsons (literally) waiting to be picked. It wouldn't take you long either. Yesterday's feedback was that it was the fastest picking of the year. Today should be no different. Outlook for Next Weekend The jury is out for Spartans, but assume that Nelsons will be open both days. Just be sure to check back here in case we unexpectedly get picked out on Saturday. The field will be fully open at 7am on Saturday 7/22/23.
Last entrance at 10:30am. Pick until 11am. SPARTANS (the larger, sweeter, earlier variety) The last push of Spartans are ripening quickly. There are nowhere near as many as there were at the beginning of the month, but this weekend looks to be slightly better than last weekend. You'll want to be here first thing on Saturday to get the best results. Be aware that some of these berries JUST turned blue and might be on the tart side. Others will fall off the bush if you look at them funny (and they're delicious--the best Spartans of the season so far). NELSONS (the medium-large, firmer, more complex variety that ripens later) There are still oh-so-many Nelsons and they are getting sweeter every day. Picking conditions are outstanding on that side of the field and you could easily fill up a 10lb bucket in the time it takes to find 1lb of Spartans. Outlook for Sunday It's effectively certain that Nelsons will be open both days this weekend. Spartans could get picked out on Saturday. Check this blog for an update tomorrow. We'll be adding the ability to sign up for a mailing list, IG, and FB soon. We had a great day of picking today with an amazing mix of long-timers and first-timers. Everyone who came was able to find some Spartans although it got tougher by the end of the day. Walking the rows this afternoon, I would say Spartans are on their last legs. We'll have the whole field open on Sunday, but you'll definitely have to explore to find decent Spartan stashes. We have Spartans marked with blue flags and Nelsons in White. Nelsons are another story! There are plenty--especially up high. There are also lots of berries on the laterals (fancy blueberry word for "branches") that are hanging down into the rows. We'll be open at 7am and closing to inbound parking at 10:30am (pick until 11am).
IMPORTANT NOTE: With the whole field open, it becomes even more important to watch your step. There are a few massive squirrel holes near the bottoms of a few rows. We fill them in, but they occasionally are "unfilled" overnight. Watch your step and don't walk backwards. These are huge trip hazards. The newly opened section also has multiple missing plants with crowns just under the sawdust. These would be easy to trip on--especially for kids. Please reinforce the "no row crossing" rule. When your blueberry field is between a dense forest and a hay field with plenty of wildlife traffic, and when you don't spray any herbicides, you get to spend lots of time weeding. The upside is that we also get to spend a lot of time taking inventory of picking conditions. Last night's weeding session gave us a chance to find some HUGE new Spartans. Those who come early shouldn't have a hard time finding several lbs fairly quickly. But the real story is on the other half of the field. Nelsons? We have a few! And on the off chance things get sparse by Sunday morning, just look up and you'll find more.
I went out to pick in the nearly empty Spartan rows on Sunday morning and I'm glad we decided to close. It took me over an hour to scrounge together 3lbs of berries from multiple plants. 3lbs may sound like a lot, and an hour may not sound like much time, but seasoned pickers can easily do more than 10lbs per hour. The bigger issue is that those berries were often nestled in clusters of green/pink berries that will grow into the stuff you want to pick. It can be a challenge to pick in a way that leaves them intact. We want them intact so you can pick them in the future!
So when is the future? It will probably be this upcoming Saturday. At the very least, we will have a ton of Nelsons to pick. I will walk the field on Friday morning and make the call on opening Spartans back up. We had a hardcore crew of insatiable Spartan fanatics at the farm today and they did a great job of lightening our loaded canes. They did so well, in fact, that we're going to close for ripening tomorrow (Sunday, July 8th).
The Nelsons are oh-so-close to being ready. We wrestled with the idea of making tomorrow our opening day for those, but we think you'll have tastier results if we wait a week. There will also be fewer green and under-ripe berries to navigate around. Even next weekend, it will still be "early season conditions" for Nelsons. Is this the end for Spartans this year?! Definitely not! We expect that today's picking has cleared the way for more ripening of the plants that still had green berries. We will definitely update the blog and the home page to let you know when green turns blue. Welcome to the brand new, but same old Hillside Blueberries. Please bear with us as we get into the swing of updating the website and phone system. To the regulars from years past, our goal is to provide continuity of the experience you've come to know and love. We've worked and continue to work closely with Patti to make sure we have a great picking season. We're looking forward to getting to know you and send you home with amazing blueberries in July/August.
Things are going very well so far and after a test run with family and friends this past weekend, we are ready to open to the public this coming weekend (July 8th and 9th). Hours will be 7am to 10:30am, but you can pick until 11am. The following Google Forms link has a copy of the farm rules and a liability waiver. https://forms.gle/s5WXUsFpsLVRkdsk8 Filling this out will add you to our list for private picking invites. Phones should be back up and running soon with the same number, but the website will be the best place to check and make sure we're open on any given weekend. |