We don’t EVER spray.
No pesticides, no insecticides, no fungicides. NOTHING.
Sometimes people are surprised to find out that we are not organic. Organic certification can be expensive, and allows growers to spray some pesticides. Yes, you read that correctly. Organic farms are allowed to spray certain types of non-synthetic pesticides. Here’s the USDA site that describes which ones are allowed and prohibited.
So, how do we keep pests from being a problem?
Well, it’s a lot of hard work:
- We trim the bushes (50+ trips to the dump each year).
- We weed around and in between the bushes (by hand! 1,000 bushes!)
- A few years ago, we spread pine chips under the bushes (that’s 2 tractor-trailer loads and 1 dump truck full of pine chips).
- We mow in-between the rows (with a push mower — noticing a trend?).
But our NUMBER 1 form of pest control?
Picking blueberries! Once the blueberries are ripe, it’s a race to get them off the branches. Which is why you might see us in the field, picking, even when we are open for you-pick. And also, why we love all of our loyal customers. We truly wouldn’t be able to keep our bushes healthy without all of you.
So come help us pick. We’ll see you in the field!