A Note Fresh off the Farm
Phew! I’m glad this harvest season is over!
2011 proved to be one of the more challenging years I can remember. Spring was cool and wet. Very wet. This delayed harvest by about 6 days later than normal. Pollination was not very consistent because the cool wet weather is not to the liking of honeybees. I don’t think our bumblebees liked the weather either.
The cool/wet transformed into hot/wet for the summer. The heat and humidity were ideal for molds, funguses, weeds, and insects (mosquitoes). Not so much for fruit quality. While the flavor was, in my opinion, excellent, the storage quality was shortened considerably. On the upside, I didn’t need to irrigate at ALL this summer. This may be a first.
Anyway, the fruit is in the box, shipped and sold, (mostly) so now I can focus on next years crop. Drainage (or lack of) in low spots was evident this year and need to be addressed otherwise Phytophthora will gain a foothold and crop loss will be evident.
Notes on new releases: this will be the first year of harvesting a few of the new released varieties. Draper and Liberty had a good crop for their first harvest. While they exhibited a significant amount of bud/blossom damage, they were still able to carry a few pounds per bush. Aurora had little to no fruit and Legacy had no fruit what so ever. I expect (or hope) that as Legacy and Aurora mature as a bush, they will crop better. Time will tell…
Joe DeGrandchamp
Blueberry Links
Michigan Blueberry Facts
This is the brand new site from Michigan State University which is the combination of the Horticulture, Entomology and Pathology Departments blueberry knowledge.
Weather Conditions at DeGrandchamp Farms
