Oh, yeah...It's time to pick berries...

Harvest began a week ago today. Our first week has been a good one, and varied. From 90 degrees on Tuesday, to being rained out yesterday…From one sorter to two sorters and cobbling together a crew as the kids finish up other responsibilities and activities…And throw in a holiday to boot, we’ve covered just about every possibility.

This week, we should settle into a routine, or at least as close as we can get to one in this season of harvest.

As usual, the first pick over the field was sparse but with a high percentage of soft, old fruit. I’m glad that was all cleaned off before it rained yesterday, although we will likely see a spike in mold for a day or two. I’m thankful for a breeze today, and sun. This should help to remove the conditions that make it so easy to grow mold.

In spite of, or maybe because of, the winter damage, the berries are large and beautiful. The bushes that were half killed by the winter are putting all their energy into fewer berries – but oh, they are lovely ones!

The weather gets some credit for that too. With the exception of the 90 degree day, and the rain, the weather has been very good for harvesting. Rufus says that the long-term forecast is for marine air mornings, and sunny afternoons. I know this isn’t the favorite forecast of vacationers, sun-tanners and beach-goers – but it is perfect for us. The sun and heat can come in August…how about that?

The Farmer predicts that our harvest will be compact, and likely not extend into August. Weather during bloom time was conducive to bringing on the bloom in a concentrated period, and for keeping the bees on task. Blooms didn’t linger long, opening slowly, so we should be picking the majority of our fruit in the next two weeks, and getting’ ‘er done!

Fine with me! I like knowing it made it safely to the freezer.

All spring, the talk about pricing was that it would be high…I’ve heard that the juice price is closer to $1 than it is to 50¢ and that would indeed be a high price. No confirmation of that yet…and usually we won’t know a settled price for our processed fruit until well into the season. Regardless, we anticipate good news on pricing.

This will be a big week…Lots of fruit out there to pick, good weather in the forecast. The crew is all trained and settled in…

Much to be thankful for!