Greetings from the sandy shores of Lake Michigan!
Just a little update on the progress of the 2017 blueberry crop!
Depending on where you live in this great country, your winter may have been brutal (California, record snow fall YEAH!) or mild (relatively speaking). Here in glorious southwest Michigan, we experienced a milder than usual winter. That’s not to say we didn’t have cold or snow, which we did, but the cold was brutal, -0F. We had lots of moisture, mostly in the form of rain and fairly steady temps. Suddenly, spring came on like it wanted to skip right to summer with sunny and warm (80’s) temps. That could have been a problem for blueberries but fortunately it cooled down and stopped the progression.
One frost/freeze event occured that could have been disastrous had it not been for our ability to protect using sprinkler irrigation. All hands were on deck those nights checking temps and keeping the pumps running. Once we got through that, we proceeded to have cool windy conditions to give our honeybees fits where they stayed in their hives. Fortunately, there were pockets of calm and sunny conditions that were ideal for the bees to pollinate. So far it looks like our little friends did their job and the berries are sizing nicely. (On a side note, my beekeeper said they made a good amount of honey so we should have plenty in the store.)
The forecast for mid-June is hot and dry. We have the pumps running as we speak, and, all in all, it looks like the bushes are in good health and the berries are progressing nicely. For the first time this year, we will have in the store a new variety that I am very excited about. In addition, this will be the first good crop of Legacy and they will ripen early to mid-august. I hope you have an opportunity to try it, you won’t be disappointed!
I would expect the blueberries to be ready by the first full week of July, which is about the average time we start harvesting. Barring unforeseen issues with the weather, I would expect a plentiful crop of blueberries, with better than average size and flavor!
See you in July!
Joe
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!