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Organic Berries. Naturally The Berry Best. Soil Fertility. Our growers ensure that the soil is healthy and in optimal condition.

Planting Stock. Crop Rotation. Integrated Pest Management. Organic Berries Availability. Learn More. Hi Katie and Hugh, My husband built me a raspberry cage the Spring of I faced it due east and covered it with shade cloth and planted my raspberry cane.

The canes are 2mtrs high, lush but no berries. I was told you can have an autumn fruiting plant and am waiting for signs of flowers but as yet, nothing. The soil was made of straw and horse manure aged of course. Any ideas or info would be appreciated.

Thanks so much, Sharon. Hi Sharon, there are two types of berries — primocane which fruit on new canes and floricane which fruit on the canes that grew last year.

So possibly you have a floricane variety — do you know what variety you have? Best of luck with it. Now i need to prune, how do I know what to take off the 2 different lots? awful some have grown into the fruit trees near them.

i will proberley cut them ones back so I can get to the wires. Hi Carolyn, look it really does depend on the type of berries — some raspberries need a different kind of prune depend on when they fruit, for example. Sounds like you have the right idea in pruning the ones growing into your trees and keeping your berry patch trained.

Thanks, Meg — Grow Great Fruit team. Thanks for this info about the berries, I am even more south than the Sunny Creek Farm in Gippsland and mentioning the wind and sun protection was an eye opener for me.

That explains a lot in my berry patch. My currants are looking very sad at the moment. So… wait a minute, the microbiome balance has no bearing on the health of the plants, their resistance to insects…all that is just a myth?

Hi Paul, what an interesting conversation. We know, because we used to be like that! Healthy soil which is not the same as sterile soil! Your email address will not be published. Search for: Search Button.

You'll soon be enjoying abundant harvests. When you download the ebook, you'll also get our free Weekly Fruit Tips newsletter to help you stay on track with the little jobs that keep your trees healthy and fruitful.

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ice cream! We are set to produce various flavours of ice cream utilizing our organic fruit. What flavours are we offering? This year we have Simply Strawberry sold out , Royal Raspberry sold out , Honey Vanilla, Apple Crumble Pie, Pumpkin Spice Cream and Maple Walnut.

Organically Produced Compost. We will be selling the compost made right here on our farm! This is the same compost that we use on all of our crops. Contact us for details on pricing.

The next date for our Bee Talk will be posted here. On that day our Beekeeper will be here throughout the day to teach you about the bees and answer any questions you may have. It's great to see Vlad again this year! Welcome to Organics Farm!

We are a small family owned and operated Certified Organic farm located in Markham, Ontario. In we decided to convert to organic farming and after much effort and a lot of hoeing! we happily opened our gates to the public in We are certified by Pro-Cert and offer a variety of organic and local products.

We have pick your own and ready picked strawberries and apples along with a wood-fired bakery and market. Why not come out for the day and enjoy some time on the farm picking your own fruit and relaxing in the country!

Beneficial bugs are crucial for organic growers. Our entomology team are experts in identifying opportunities to use predatory insects that keep pests at bay. They spend a lot of time in the lab researching the effects and benefits of bugs on the farm.

Entomologists also evaluate the landscape and suggest practices that increase biodiversity of the area. They share this information with growers and others in the industry to further collective knowledge on the subject. Introducing more native crops brings in more beneficial bugs to increase resilience of the crops without the use of synthetic inputs.

Driscoll's How We Grow Our Practices Organic Berries Our Commitment to Organic Our Commitment to Organic. These standards include: Banning the use of prohibited synthetic inputs for at least 3 years Ensuring soil health, and thus crop health, through crop rotation and cover cropping, and other types of diversified plantings in perennial systems.

We export only the freshest berries, entering our coldchain within 2 hours of harvesting for maximim shelf life. Creative instore displays.

Our unique retail packs stand out in the produce section, allowing for creative displays by instore mechandisers and staff. Easy to scan UPC printed on bottom of each basket.

Easy to carry family snack size. For you in our catalog falconglen. For help with orders email at orders falconglen. Cookie Policy We use cookies to collect information about when and how you use our website so we can create a better experience.

By navigating around this site you consent to cookies being stored on your machine. To find out more, and for information on how to opt out, please see our Cookies Policy. Login Register Forgot password Sign In. Freeze-Dried Organic Blueberries. Freeze-Dried Organic Blueberry Powder.

Organic Bi-Colour Sweet Corn. Since then, in large part because of the development of the Internet, information on organic blueberry production has proliferated. Cornell University, University of Maine, University of Kentucky, University of Florida, Washington State University, Oregon State University and other institutions and individuals have published online information on organic blueberry production see Further Resources at the end of this publication.

It would behoove the aspiring organic blueberry grower to find information from as close to their production site as possible. The growing conditions for successful blueberry production are different from nearly any other woody perennial fruit crop grown in the United States.

Understanding that blueberries evolved as a bog or marsh plant can go a long way to understanding the biggest challenges in blueberry production, whether the producer is organic or not.

As a marsh plant, the native blueberry thrives in acidic, moist soils. Because it did not need root hairs a feature of most terrestrial plants in the marsh, it never evolved root hairs. The otherwise-fibrous roots of the blueberry plant do some of the work of taking up water and nutrients, but specific fungal mycorrhizae, in a mutually beneficial relationship with the blueberry plant, do much of the water and nutrient uptake.

The practical consequence of this fact is that growers must provide abundant water and maintain conditions favorable to the mutualistic fungal mycorrhizae. So, besides providing lots of water, the grower will need to maintain a low pH acidic in a high-organic-matter soil and not disturb that soil with cultivation, all factors necessary to preserve the mycorrhizae.

Shaping raised beds in preparation for planting. Photo: Ryan Neal, Neal Family Farm. In addition to not having root hairs, the blueberry does not produce an extensive root system. In its natural marsh environment, nutrients and water come to the plant, especially with the aid of the mycorrhizae.

Blueberry roots rarely extend much beyond three feet from the crown or soil surface. The negative side of this for the producer is that the plant is intolerant of weed competition. Also, any fertilizer materials must be applied under the plant canopy, just a foot or two from the main trunk.

One positive aspect of this limited root system is that even large blueberry plants are easy to transplant, relative to other woody perennials. Still on the topic of roots, a commercially significant root disease, incited by the fungal pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi , is favored by standing water.

This at first might seem paradoxical, but there is more water circulation in a marsh than might at first be apparent and there are natural drying-out periods even in most marshes.

The upshot of this for the aspiring grower is that blueberries are at their healthiest and most productive on raised beds of sandy loam or similarly well-drained soil with nearly constant drip irrigation.

In the early days of the Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks blueberry industry, phytophthora root rot was rampant, and afflicted plants were often easy to find simply by following plant rows across a hilly site: the disease was often limited to where the row dipped into a low spot, and plants on nearby higher ground might be completely unaffected.

One other characteristic of the blueberry, peculiar to its natural environment, is that the crucial plant nutrient nitrogen is not available in the nitrate form in acidic conditions, like those of a marsh. The blueberry plant needs its nitrogen in the ammonium form.

In other words, organic growers who are already reliant on organic materials for nitrogen nutrition are automatically doing the right thing for their blueberry crop.

An understanding of the evolution and ecology of the blueberry plant should help the production details that follow fit into a comprehensive and comprehensible whole. Blueberries are members of the genus Vaccinium and belong to the Rhododendron family Ericaceae. The Vaccinium genus includes several species of economic importance.

The highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum is the most widely cultivated, grown from the Mid-Atlantic to California, Oregon, and Washington, and from the Upper Midwest to the Mid-South. The lowbush wild blueberry V. angustifolium is adapted to the far North and is commercially important in Maine, Eastern Canada, and parts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Rabbiteye V. ashei is a large bush well-adapted to the South, in the region roughly south of Interstate Southern highbush V.

corymbosum x V. darrowi , a new hybrid, is adapted to the southern rabbiteye zone, as well as the coastal South. It has a lower chilling-hours requirement, and it flowers and fruits earlier than either highbush or rabbiteye varieties.

Blueberries have fewer pest problems than most other fruits, offering an advantage for organic production. In some areas, most insect and disease problems can be controlled through cultural manipulation and proper cultivar selection.

Weather fluctuations and geographic seasonal advantage are the major economic considerations for variety selection.

Organic planting stock is required, if commercially available, for certified organic fruit production. If organic planting stock is not available, organic growers must document their search for organic stock and its lack of commercial availability. Most certifiers interpret the organic standards as requiring organic management of non-organic planting stock for at least 12 months before harvesting a crop that is to be sold as certified organic.

Freeze-damaged blueberry flowers. The white flowers are undamaged. Blueberry flowers under a protective layer of ice provided by overhead sprinklers. Like almost every other agricultural crop, blueberries are being hurt by climate change. Wild blueberry production is especially vulnerable because, at least historically, they were not irrigated at all.

But perhaps the most serious challenge posed by climate change to blueberry production is the increasing prevalence of crop loss from freeze damage to blueberry blossoms. This is happening in both highbush and rabbiteye production areas because warmer winters are inducing earlier bloom—sometimes by as much as a month—and then late freezes, which occur roughly at the same time they always have, swoop in and destroy the tender blossoms, thereby damaging the crop.

Being able to overhead irrigate can protect down to 22ºF. This frost threat is probably a common enough occurrence now that growers should strongly consider budgeting a frost-protection system from the outset. Blueberries are distinct among fruit crops in their soil and fertility requirements.

As members of the Rhododendron family, blueberries require an acidic low pH soil, preferably in the 4. When soil pH is appreciably higher than 5.

In either case, plants do not perform well. Blueberries have a relatively low nitrogen requirement and thrive on organic fertilizers. Soil pH also plays a significant role in nitrogen management for blueberries. Research shows that blueberries prefer soil and fertilizer nitrogen in the ammonium form, absorbing and using it much more efficiently than nitrate nitrogen—the form preferred by most other commercial crop plants.

Neutral and high-pH soils favor nitrification—the rapid conversion of ammonium nitrogen to nitrate through the activity of nitrifying microorganisms.

In an acidic soil, however, the ammonium form of nitrogen predominates and is readily available to blueberries.

For instance, when a slow-release organic fertilizer, like fishmeal, is applied, the nitrogen in the proteins is converted first into ammonium.

This ammonium—which would rapidly convert to nitrate under neutral soil conditions and be leached out of the root zone—tends to remain in the desired, ammoniated form in acidic soil and thus be held in the soil for uptake.

The most common method of lowering soil pH in organic culture is by applying sulfur. Pre-plant incorporation of sulfur to lower the pH to an optimal blueberry range of 4. Because soil pH is subject to considerable seasonal fluctuation—especially on cropped soils—it is advisable to do soil sampling and testing in winter or very early spring, when biological activity is low.

Table 1 provides guidelines for sulfur or lime to raise or lower pH on different types of soil. Single applications of sulfur should not exceed pounds per acre. Best results are obtained by applying up to pounds in spring, followed by up to in the fall, for as many applications as are required to deliver the total amount.

It is advisable to re-test the soil one year after each application to determine whether additional acidification is necessary Pritts and Hancock, Organic growers should be conservative in the application of soil sulfur. Sulfur has both fungicidal and insecticidal action and can detrimentally affect soil biology if overused.

Organic growers usually add between five and 10 gallons of peat moss at planting time, since it too is a soil acidifier pH 4. While costly, peat is resistant to decomposition and provides the benefit of soil humus. Those seeking alternatives to sphagnum peat moss might consider pine bark or similar amendments incorporated in the planting rows or holes.

While less desirable than sphagnum peat moss, pine bark often can be obtained locally at a much lower cost. It is advisable to monitor soil pH over time because production practices can cause gradual changes to occur. Irrigation water often contains calcium and magnesium, which may cause soil pH to creep upwards, while repeated use of acidifying fertilizers, such as cottonseed meal, may lower pH.

Fortunately, the presence of abundant organic materials, such as peat, and the breakdown products of sawdust and woodchip mulches tend to buffer soil pH.

Several organic growers have even observed that blueberries grown in high-organic-matter soils will perform well at a pH as high as 6. As a result, additional sulfur or lime, for that matter seldom is needed.

When needed, sulfur is usually applied as a top dressing, but delivery of soluble sulfur through drip irrigation lines also is an option. Vinegar or citric acid solutions may also be applied through drip lines to provide acidity, but such changes are generally short-lived and will probably need to be repeated often, as indicated by soil tests.

A new field of endeavor, agrisolar , combines agricultural and solar production on the same land. On a wild blueberry farm in Rockport, Maine, a solar array has been installed over 11 acres of blueberry plants in a first-of-its-kind project.

The shade of the panels may reduce harvests, but the goal is to find a balance between electricity production and blueberry production. The data collected from research being done on this site and lessons learned from it could inform future projects and open the door for other wild blueberry landowners in Maine to diversify their income with the addition of solar energy production.

Lily Calderwood, a horticulturalist at the University of Maine, will continue to collect data on shade levels, soil temperatures, plant density, insect and weed pressures, blueberry bud and fruit counts, crop yield, berry size, and more through That research is funded through a Northeast SARE Novel Approach grant, and more information about the project and Dr.

Soil-building practices prior to establishment can go a long way toward providing the fertility necessary for a healthy blueberry planting. Soils rich in organic matter are also a desirable environment for symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi that assist blueberry roots in absorbing water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other minerals Yang et al.

Utilizing green manures in advance of planting can play an important part in cycling organic matter into the soil system, as can applications of composts and livestock manures. ATTRA has several publications that can be useful in these areas, including Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures , Manures for Organic Crop Production , and Composting: The Basics.

Once a blueberry planting is established, it is possible to apply supplemental fertilization in a number of forms and by several means.

Generally, supplemental nitrogen is the greatest concern, followed by potassium. Blueberries have a low phosphorus requirement and typically require little, if any, phosphorus fertilization.

In fact, excessive phosphorus has been one of the factors linked to iron chlorosis in blueberries. High calcium levels are also undesirable. Nitrogen fertilizer recommendations vary somewhat from region to region.

As a general guideline, to pounds of nitrogen per acre are commonly recommended on mulched berries; a reduced rate of 50 to 60 pounds per acre is advised where little or no mulch is used. In conventional production, nitrogen is often applied in three split applications—one at bud break, followed by two more at six-week intervals.

Adjustments may be necessary for less-soluble organic fertilizers. One rule of thumb suggests that these fertilizers be applied from one to four weeks ahead of the recommended schedule for soluble fertilizers. This allows additional time for the decomposition processes to make nutrients available.

Applications after mid-July are discouraged, as they tend to promote late growth that is particularly sensitive to freeze damage. Table 2 shows natural materials used by organic growers for supplementary fertilization.

This testing is done in late July or early August in Arkansas , by sampling leaves from the mid-shoot area on fruiting canes and sending them to an analytical laboratory. Lab results showing nitrogen levels below 1. This service is available through Cooperative Extension in most states.

Potassium for blueberries is often adequately provided through decaying mulches. Some forms of potassium sulfate are also allowed in organic production. Consult your certifier before buying fertilizer. High-quality compost is a good all-around blueberry fertilizer.

Depending on the humus condition and biological activity in the soil, compost may provide all the fertility needs of the crop. Where compost is of average quality, it may still function as a good soil conditioner. Using aged animal manures in blueberry production also is possible, but less common.

Unlike the roots of grapes and bramble fruits, which grow well into the inter-row area, blueberry roots are not very extensive. As a result, all fertilizers and acid-forming amendments must be applied under the plant canopy to ensure that they reach the roots. Foliar feeding of blueberries is practiced by some organic growers and is especially helpful when plants are stressed.

Foliar fertilization programs usually employ seaweed and fish emulsion. Blueberries do not have extensive root systems. As a result, clean cultivation of row middles to control weeds and to incorporate cover crops is less damaging to blueberries than it is to bramble fruits.

Still, it is wise to till no deeper than three inches. Similarly, inter-row living mulches—also called sodded middles—generally are not competitive with the crop unless the inter-row species are aggressive and invade the rows.

Fescue is commonly used in the Mid-South for sodded middles, as are several other grass species. Further north, perennial ryegrass or orchard grass would be good choices. The grower should avoid grasses that spread by stolons or rhizomes, like bermudagrass in the South and quackgrass in the North.

Such grasses can spread into the blueberry rows and become a competitive nuisance. A steam-weeding device at the Arkansas blueberry farm of Megan and Matt pictured Varoz. Photo: Guy Ames, NCAT. Timely mowing—usually three to five times per year—is the common means of controlling weeds and other vegetation in sodded middles.

It is most important that weeds not be allowed to produce seed that may be scattered into the rows and germinate later.

In a Texas study, researchers demonstrated that the inter-row area could be used to produce significant quantities of mulch for rabbiteye blueberries.

Successful winter crops of rye, ryegrass, and crimson clover, as well as a summer crop of pearl millet, were grown, cut, and windrowed onto the blueberry rows Patten et al. Flame, steam, and infrared thermal weed-control systems are other organically approved weed-management options.

Weeds are considered by many growers to be the number-one problem in organic blueberry culture. It is especially important to control aggressive perennial weeds such as johnsongrass, bermudagrass, and quackgrass prior to crop establishment.

Sites with these grasses should generally be avoided for blueberry establishment. Some techniques, however, deserve additional elaboration. In much of the country, blueberries are grown on mulched, raised beds. Rabbiteyes and older highbush plantings are sometimes grown without mulch.

Raised beds reduce the incidence of soil- and water-borne diseases e. Thick organic mulches provide weed and disease suppression, soil temperature regulation, slow-release nutrients, organic matter, and moisture conservation. This last is especially important because blueberry roots lack root hairs—the primary sites for water and mineral absorption on most plants.

Given the limitations of blueberry roots, researchers determined that an optimum vegetation-free zone during the first two to three years of growth extends roughly 1. This translates to a 3- to 5-foot-wide, weed-free row bed.

Current recommendations suggest mulching a 3- to 4-foot-wide strip under the plants with three to five inches of sawdust, bark, wood chips, or wood shavings. Organic growers often prefer a deeper mulch: up to six inches over a strip at least four feet wide.

Ideally, the mulch should be sufficiently coarse to minimize crusting and allow for air exchange and the surface relatively flat to encourage water penetration. Although the mulch suppresses many weeds, the moist organic medium can also become a haven for annual weeds annual ryegrass, stinging nettle, crabgrass , as well as perennial weeds dandelion, horsetail, sheep sorrel that find a niche in perennial plantings.

Strategic attention to weed control, even in mulched fields, is a major cultural consideration. Tractor-drawn cultivation implements are impractical for in-row weed control on deep-mulched blueberries because blueberry roots often grow into the mulch, and significant plant damage can result from tillage.

Shallow hoeing or hand-pulling weeds are two traditional options practiced by many organic growers. One alternative to organic mulching is the use of fabric weed barriers. While fabric mulches may not provide all the benefits of deep organic mulch, they are highly effective for weed control and allow water to pass through.

However, by organic rules, all fabric mulches must be removed before they deteriorate and decompose into the soil. Have a plan in place to deal with this eventuality.

However, because honeybees are not the most effective pollinators for blueberries, having a variety of pollinators like horn-faced bees, mason bees, carpenter bees, bumblebees, orchard bees, and others is important for good fruit set.

Managing nearby vegetation for a variety of pollinators can be helpful in ensuring good pollination. Although insect damage in blueberry plantings rarely reaches economic thresholds, regular monitoring by scouting and use of insect traps is advisable.

In general, rabbiteye blueberries seem more tolerant of insect damage than highbush varieties. As discussed in the previous section, the use of beneficial insect habitats along crop field borders increases the presence of beneficial insects. If you are releasing purchased beneficial insects, these field-edge habitats will encourage them to remain and continue their life cycle in that location, helping reduce the pest populations.

However, pests may also inhabit the field-edge habitats; therefore, these habitats should be monitored along with the crop field. Depending on the locations of blueberry plantings and the insect pressure on them, sanitation, good cultural practices, vigorous plant growth, and natural biological control will handle most pests.

However, when specific pests reach economically damaging levels, additional action is necessary. Blueberry maggots on fruit adult fly, top; maggots, bottom. Photos: Jerry A. Payne, USDA Agricultural Research Service. The most common insect pest is the blueberry maggot, Rhagoletis mendax.

It attacks the fruit in midsummer before harvest and feeds on all varieties of blueberries. It is found throughout the eastern United States and Canada. This pest overwinters in the pupae stage, buried one to two inches in the soil. The adult flies emerge over a period of a month or two during summer.

They lay eggs in ripe berries, and the maggots eat the pulp of the fruits, causing many to drop, spoiling the sale of others, and creating difficulties in post-harvest care.

The choice of blueberry varieties can influence the severity of blueberry maggot damage. Of the mid- to late-season varieties, Northland and Herbert stood out with less damage Liburd et al. The botanical insecticide pyrethrum can be effective in controlling blueberry maggots, but it can also be toxic to beneficial insects.