害羞草研究所

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Lower Mainland blueberry farms expect solid season

Blueberry Council of B.C. says season will be better than last year
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(Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS) Sunny hot weather can make the berries over-ripen.

Blueberries are better late than never.

Austin Doong, with Doremi Blueberry Farm in Pitt Meadows, said the season got started a bit later than expected for his mid-season crops, but he expects the recent sunny weather will make the berries ripen sooner.

Overall, the crop in B.C. is expected to surpass last year害羞草研究所檚 total.

For Doong, this is his first year of harvesting the 12 acres of blueberry bushes on his farm.

He had little trouble finding workers. He has around eight regular pickers at his farm, plus around 10 students hired through the Canada Summer Job Program.

When he advertised online for help, he had a few hundred applications.

害羞草研究所淔or pickers, it害羞草研究所檚 just you put it on there and people just swarm,害羞草研究所 said Doong.

害羞草研究所淭hen student-wise, there are another few hundred, so it害羞草研究所檚 not too bad to find people,害羞草研究所 he continued, adding that maybe he had so much interest because they are paying pickers a little bit higher than at other farms.

害羞草研究所淎pparently our pruning did not go well, so [the berries are] a little bit harder to pick, so we put the money a little bit higher,害羞草研究所 Doong added.

He has reserved around two to three acres of his fields for 害羞草研究所榰-pick害羞草研究所 and around another two to three acres that his own workers pick and sell fresh. The other eight acres are intermittently cleared by pickers supplied by a packing house.

害羞草研究所淎s a grower, the packing houses have their own processing plants, so they help us out by sending in a few hundred people to pick and clean our fields,害羞草研究所 said Doong.

害羞草研究所淭hen they bring it back and record how much weight has come out of our field and it害羞草研究所檚 just like if I sold it to them myself,害羞草研究所 he said.

Navdeep Middar, sales and operations manager at Twinberry NRK Sahota Blueberry Farms, also in Pitt Meadows, said her workers started picking at the end of June, about a week earlier than last year.

She said that although they are having a bit of a struggle with the hot weather, the crop is good.

害羞草研究所淚f it害羞草研究所檚 too hot, the berry over-ripens or softens, so there are more berries on the trees. Which is not a bad thing if you can pick it. But then the rain comes and then that slows down the people害羞草研究所檚 picking,害羞草研究所 said Middar

害羞草研究所淭he season is more of a bumper crop than last year for sure,害羞草研究所 she added.

NRK Sahota Blueberry Farms has been in Pitt Meadows for 33 years with 168 acres of mostly blueberries and a small amount of raspberries.

She sells five variety of berries, the most common being 害羞草研究所楧uke,害羞草研究所 the sweetest of the early season crop, 害羞草研究所楤luecrop害羞草研究所 in the mid-season and 害羞草研究所楨lliott,害羞草研究所 the late-season crop that the farm grows more to export than for local markets because the berries are more tart.

Middar said that every year the farm struggles with finding workers and usually hires contractors to harvest the fields.

Across the province, the season is looking better than last year.

But Anju Gill, executive director of the Blueberry Council of B.C., won害羞草研究所檛 know for certain until about October, when the numbers are finalized.

害羞草研究所淟ast year, the crop size was down about 30 million pounds,害羞草研究所 said Gill.

The total for the year was about the 135 million pounds.

The biggest year for the industry was in 2016, with a crop total of 170 million pounds.

害羞草研究所淥ur numbers are based on levies received. That doesn害羞草研究所檛 meant there isn害羞草研究所檛 more crop out there,害羞草研究所 explained Gill.

害羞草研究所淟et害羞草研究所檚 say you害羞草研究所檙e doing u-pick and other ways of selling your berries, we害羞草研究所檙e not going to know about that,害羞草研究所 she explained.

害羞草研究所淚t looks better this year than last year for sure,害羞草研究所 Gill added.

害羞草研究所淒efinitely not the 2016 season.害羞草研究所



Colleen Flanagan

About the Author: Colleen Flanagan

I got my start with Black Press Media in 2003 as a photojournalist.
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