Because our Post Office is in the next city (Brownsboro) 5 miles away, use of GPS or Maps.com will send you away from our farm. You should see our directions on this website for the most accurate directions to reach us. Our address is : 10268 FM 314 Edom,TX75756
No Pets Please! No Pets Please! No Pets Please!
CLICK on the following Link to see a "live" webcam of the farm:
http://192.168.1.200:60001/CgiStart?page=Single&Language=0
IP Network Camera from Panasonic, sold and Installed by Servcom Dallas Business Telephone: www.dallasbusinesstelephone.com owned & operated by Chuck & Sherri Arena
U-PICK Blueberries 1/2 peck basket (approximately 8-9 pints) $ TBA
U-PICK Blackberries $ 3.00 lb.
We PICK:Blackberries and Blueberries sold by FLATS (12 pints) $TBA
Welcome to the Farm!
Wear closed toe shoes, loose clothing and bring a hat. Young children don't last long in the field, bring an umbrella for them.
Always check this website before coming over!! How to Pick Blueberries (click on "The Berries" at top of page for more pictures)
How to pick sweet blueberries? First understand that a blueberry does not sweeten any further once picked. Look up, look down, and look in the middle of the bush, these berries have stayed on the bush longer than the ones at eye level. You want the biggest, plumpest berry you can find. And, yes it's okay to taste them, but that doesn't help fill your basket, now does it? To speed up your picking try to attach the basket to your belt, so you can use two hands. With that in mind, ask us which rows to pick on, the ones we suggest should have sweet berries on them, we do have four different varieties in the field. Each variety blooms at its own pace and the first to bloom is “Climax”. These rows are 3,6,9,15,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42, & 45.
The spacing is so that each variety cross-pollinates with the different variety next to it, bees play a large part in pollination. We rent fifteen hives in February to enhance the natural occurring bees in the area. A pollinated field almost doubles the production of berries versus a field not heavily pollinated by beehives. The second variety to ripen is Row 12; these are named Britewell, after Dr. Britewell who introduced this cultivars, Britewell are beautiful. The berries cluster like grapes and these bushes seem to have twice the berries as all the other varieties we have. The third berry to ripen, Tifblue are on rows 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11,13,14,16,17,19,20,22,23,25,26,28,31,32,34,35,37,38,40,41,43,44, and 46. Tifblue brings in the bulk of our production each year. Tifblue blooms after the last frost date for north Texas , this protects our crop from frost damage, Climax seems to get damaged every year by a late frost. Our last variety is Premier, which is mixed in with the Tifblue on the back half of the field, starting around rows 22. New this year 2007
More blueberries. 2006 we were surprised at the request for already picked blueberries, so we planted another field with 4500 plants, there looking good, but a full productive crop is about two years away on this new field. Our Daughters
Sherri and I have three beautiful daughters, Rachel, Lindsey, and Nicole. Rachel bakes the wonderful Blueberry Cream Pies, Lindsey and Nicole will continue with operating the Store featuring refreshments, such as our Blueberry Lemonade.
As the season grows closer we have jumped in to high gear to make ready everything we can think of in preparation of offering you and your family a wonderful experience this season at our farm. If you have any suggestions were all ears. Dates for this season 2008 OPENING DATE IS : To Be Announced; 7:00AM TILL 7:00PM everyday including July 4th.We are planning a Wednesday, June 13th opening date, the thirteen rows of Climax should be ripe, always check the website before coming out, we change the information on the front page to alert you of weather and berry conditions. After June 23 rd the Tifblue has historically been ripe enough to begin picking. The last two years July fourth weekend has been our peak period when we say go anywhere in the field and pick lots of ripe berries.
Hours: We are open everyday from 7:00am till 7:00pm (Rain or Shine) Yes! We are Open on July Fourth and it has become a great day for family picnics and usually great picking, lots of ripe berries!
e-mail: chuck@blueberryhillfarms.com |
