Burdick Blueberries is a third generation blueberry farm. The Burdick family has a long history of farming in Cattaraugus County. In 1937, grandfather Milton Burdick leased the 8267 Thompson Road property and grew potatoes there for about 15 years. He also had a dairy farm in the valley below Reid Hill at this time. In 1952, Milton and his wife Pauline bought the entire 80 acre parcel that is now Burdick Blueberries and began planting what would become 30,000 blueberry plantings. Milton had learned at Michigan State about cultivating highbush blueberries and recognized that the site and soil would be ideal. His vision was to create a pick-your-own concept farm and the field opened for picking around 1960. Generations of customers have made blueberry picking at Burdick’s a special part of their summer.

Milton’s daughter Helen, and her husband Roger Edwards moved to the farm in the early sixties, assisting and continuing the careful tending of the farm for decades. They taught their three children, Paula Jo, Peter, and Amy how to be a part of the family business. Roger taught school and was a clever innovator of machines for berry production. Helen was also a school teacher and talented c0-manager of the business, carrying on her father’s dream.

The oldest daughter, Paula Jo Edwards was the first of the children to take over running the farm when Helen and Roger retired. From flowers and horses to cooking, piano and needlework, Paula exuded a bursting poetic approach to life. She brought the pick-your-own flower garden to life. She is deeply missed after passing on in 2014.

Today, Burdick Blueberries is owned and managed by Amy Edwards, with her partner, Beth. They made a career u-turn and moved from California in 2015 to keep the family farm and dream alive. While Amy oversees every detail of the farm operation, Beth manages the retail side and also the flower production called Bluems. They started hosting guests in the The Guest House in 2019 (See GUEST HOUSE). Read more of Amy’s story in THE TEAM.