Pickin’ the BLUES
Family fun at Blueberry Bay Farm in Stratham
Take advantage of a sweet season.
July is National Blueberry Month, and what better way to celebrate than by heading out to your local pick-your-own farm where bushes loaded with plump, ripe berries await eager pickers.
Weddings, berries and beer
Monadnock Berries in Troy has 10,000 blueberry bushes on 12 acres of fields that offer a panoramic view of Mount Monadnock.
Owners Anthony and Fenella Levick bought the circa 1770 farm in 1995, and along with blueberries, they grow two acres of raspberries and some other berries that may not be as familiar. Anthony grew up on a large commercial fruit farm in England, where over 200 acres of currants and gooseberries were grown. However, in New Hampshire, currants and gooseberries were considered “forbidden fruit” since they were thought to host white pine blister rust, a serious disease of valuable white pine trees. By planting disease-resistant varieties of these fruits, Anthony brings a touch of Old England to New England. The berries are tart and flavorful, and make delicious jam, juice, pies and wine. Be sure to pick up some when you come for the blueberries.
While you are in Troy, if you find you are parched after a day of picking in the hot sun, head over to Granite Roots Brewery, a sister business of the farm. Here they offer small-batch brews made with their fruits.
As soon as you see the farm fields with Mount Monadnock rising in the background, you will understand why it would also be the perfect location for a wedding. After many requests, the Levicks began hosting small weddings in 2014, making the farm a popular wedding venue. “Weddings, berries and beer. That’s what we do,” Anthony says.
Berry good
Saltbox Farm in Stratham gets its name from the circa 1725 farmhouse where Irma and Bob Goodrich set down roots in 1959. They began planting blueberries and Christmas trees in the 1960s, and soon opened up as a pick-your-own berry farm. Since then, a trip to Saltbox Farm for berries has become a Seacoast tradition for many families; the Goodriches sell between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds of blueberries a year. The Goodrich family has over 1,200 blueberry bushes of eight varieties and also grows raspberries for PYO.
Every morning, warm blueberry muffins made in the couple’s licensed homestead kitchen greet early customers and pies are made on request.
Graded berries are for sale in the farm stand, which is packed with fresh in-season produce and honey from hives kept on the property for pollination. A new greenhouse offers plants for sale, and a cut-flower bed was added this year.
Bob and Irma’s son Peter has taken over management of the 35-acre farm that has been put into a conservation easement to protect it from development. He encourages people to come and enjoy the open fields and frog pond. “There are picnic tables where you can relax after picking, watch the bluebirds and enjoy the open space,” he says. “It is like a nature preserve.”
Peter plans to continue to build on the foundation his parents started, adding more types of berries and other agricultural products. “We have families who have been coming here for 35 years,” he says.
Grow your own
Just down the road is Blueberry Bay Farm in Stratham. Owners Ron and Lois Laurence grow four acres of berries on their chemical-free, 12-acre farm.
The Brown-Watkins family drives up from Massachusetts to pick blueberries here every summer with their two young sons. “It is so beautiful here and not overly crowded,” says mom Sharon. “The boys love picking berries, and it is great family time without a screen.”
A totally PYO farm, visitors can also leave with veggies. Ruth Carney, of Stratham, is a regular at the farm. “I go as often as I can during blueberry season, usually three or four times a week.” She picks blueberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peaches, pears and raspberries. “I love that it’s a chemical-free farm. You know you’re eating the best possible food and you’ve picked it!” she says.
The Laurences also sell plants, including container-grown blueberry bushes. Ron gives this planting advice to homeowners who wish to add blueberries to their edible landscape next spring: “Blueberries should not be planted after July 1,” he says. “This gives them time to get established and start acclimating for the winter.” Order plants ahead, and have your soil tested and ready for them. Plant the bushes at least 5 feet apart in a spot with full sun and well-drained, acidic soil with a pH of 4.5-5.0. He recommends digging a 24-inch-wide hole that is 18 inches deep, as well as loosening and extending some of the roots out from the root ball so they spread and not just encircle the plant. “Failure to do this will result in a slow-growth bush because roots will keep growing inside the original root ball rather than into the surrounding soil,” he says. Before backfilling the hole, remove any rocks from the soil and mix in about a 50/50 ratio of wet peat moss. Mulch the plants with 4 inches of wood chips or coarse bark out to the dripline to protect shallow roots. It is especially important to keep the soil moist during the first year and don’t fertilize until the second year. Except for removing broken branches, your plants won’t need any pruning for a few years.
Blueberry bushes are long-lived and beautiful in every season, plus you’ll have homegrown berries at your fingertips.
Take a walk on the wild side
Backpacker magazine lists 2,152-foothigh Pitcher Mountain in Stoddard as one of the best blueberry-picking hikes in America. Jack Johns, of Hillsborough, is an avid hiker and has been up Pitcher Mountain many times over the years. “We always took the kids and grandkids with us in the summer to pick berries there,” he says.
After a steep 0.4-mile climb past shoulder-high bushes full of fruit in mid-July to late August, you can enjoy 360-degree views, including both the Green and White Mountains on a clear day. There is a 25-foot-tall fire tower as well. Part of the 11,000-acre Andorra Forest, the area is privately owned by the Faulkner family but the Forest Society has a conservation easement that keeps the space open to the public. A donation of $1.50 per quart is requested.
There are several other Forest Society properties around the state that are known for their wild blueberries, free for the picking. Some of the hikes are more strenuous than others so check the Forest Society websites given below for trail info before setting out.
The Evelyn and Albert D. Morse Preserve in Alton was a commercial, wild-blueberry farm donated to the Forest Society. Fields at the top are mowed to keep the bushes productive.
Mount Major off Route 11 in Alton is one of several mountains in the Belknap Range loaded with wild blueberries. There are multiple trails to the summit.
Take a hike to pick wild blueberries on Pitcher Mountain.
Gap Mountain in Jaffrey offers spectacular views of Mount Monadnock from its north summit along with highbush and low-bush wild blueberries.
Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest on South Road in Lempster is home to 2,160-foot Silver Mountain where you’ll find lots of wild berries on its flat summit just waiting to be picked.
Whether you choose the ease of picking at a local farm, the challenge of hiking a mountain or the convenience of growing your own, blueberries can be a part of your summer. NHH
RESOURCES
Blueberry Bay Farm • (603) 580-1612 blueberrybayfarm.com
Granite Roots Brewing • (603) 242-3435 graniterootsbrewing.com
Monadnock Berries • (603) 242-6417 monadnockberries.com
Saltbox Farm • (603) 436-7978
Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest forestsociety.org/ashuelotriver
Evelyn and Albert D. Morse Preserve forestsociety.org/morsepreserve
Gap Mountain forestsociety.org/gapmountain
Mount Major forestsociety.org/mtmajor
Pitcher Mountain • trailtosummit.com/nh-fire-towerseries-1-pitcher-mountain
Blueberry Bay Farm is completly PYO, and has four acres of blueberries on the 12-acre farm. You can also pick vegetables and other kinds of fruit.
Did You Know?
All cultivated blueberries trace their lineage back to New Hampshire. In 1905, Frederick Coville, a U.S. Department of Agriculture botanist, bought a farm in Greenfield as a summer home. He found pastures full of wild low- and high-bush blueberries, so he selected one of each type with superior berries and crossbred them. The first hybrid blueberry, released to the public in 1920, was fittingly called Pioneer, and hundreds of other cultivars have followed. Some of Coville’s early varieties—such as Earliblue, Bluecrop and Blueray—are still grown today.
Cultivated high-bush blueberries take the strong flavor, cold hardiness and drought tolerance of the wild lowbush berries (Vaccinium angustifolium) and marry these qualities with the larger fruit, higher yields and height of the wild high-bush berries (Vaccinium corymbosum).
