2026 — A Whirlwind Season

Some of you have asked me what has happened to those longer blueberry seasons, the ones that stretched well into September. While it’s surprising how different each year can be, I agree there has been a trend of shorter, more compressed seasons. This is clear looking at our old blueberry yield logs dating back to 1961. They also document that our seasons now begin on average 7-10 days earlier.

Our 10 blueberry varieties do allow for a succession of berries to ripen through July and some of August, but they certainly have had a shorter span in the last 10 years or so. No doubt this is due to some hotter summers and other weather extremes such as drought. 

This year’s crop also had an unusual event. During bud swell in mid-April, we had a freeze with temps in the field falling below 16°. That’s a first since moving back to the farm in 2015. Parts of the field that were higher in elevation or more protected were less affected. The blueberry quantity on bushes in the same row and section ranged from bountiful, to only a few berries, or none! I think we lost 40-50% of the crop with frozen buds dropping to the ground over the next week and into May. 

So how do we look at this—a field half empty or half full? Keep in mind, growers nationwide have been hit hard this year with crop loss due to weather extremes. So, I am trying to be thankful for what the blueberry field did give us. Speaking of gratitude, I want to mention that during the berry picking season, our field guides performed a heroic job of trying to ensure that visitors were placed in an area with good picking. This was really close to impossible with each row so variable, and the need to shift from section to section more frequently. Thank you, field guides!

Our previous season (2025) was quite different. Although we did our best to pick surplus berries for our value-added blueberry products, we still had some waste. So in 2026, we scheduled more marketing, which I believe was successful and necessary to make up for all the years the farm had little or no marketing. The result was a whirlwind of a season as our increased customer base blew through our lower supply of good picking rather quickly. We circled through our field twice in a little over 3 weeks. The positive of this was much less waste. Only some mid-season smaller berries were left behind. However, we were not able to pick for our value-added products this year. 

So what about 2027? We can hope for kinder weather, and also look forward to a large section of Coville late-season blueberries coming back to normal production. They were renovated in Spring 2025. Customers did not pick in this section during the 2025 & 2026 seasons.

To sum it up, I am determined to be grateful—to be thankful for the beautiful berries we did pick, the new things we learned, and the amazing community that supports us. And from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for growing together with us and being a part of sustaining local seasonal food!

Peace Love & Blueberries

Look what’s coming in the rest of 2026; we’re not quite done yet! Make sure to check the 2026 Season Page for more!