Pick-Your-Own Pointers From Expert Blueberry Grower

Bob McConnell and his wife, Debby. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Bob McConnell and his wife, Debby. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

If you call McConnell’s Berry Farm during blueberry season, you’re likely to hear a voice mail recording of Debby McConnell advising what pick-your-own appointments – if any – are available for the next two weeks.

This berry farm, located near Morgantown, WV, is quite popular. So popular the McConnells limit the number of people coming to their farm. The farm is open for four, four-hour picking sessions a week. They do not do any retail, everything is pick-your-own.

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“When people come, they know they will get berries,” Bob McConnell says. “You want to make sure people have a nice experience.”

If the last name of McConnell sounds familiar to readers of American Fruit Grower® and Western Fruit Grower® magazines, that’s because Bob McConnell is the son of George McConnell, a longtime contributor to the magazine starting in the late ’60s.

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“My father had been growing strawberries all his life,” Bob McConnell says. “They started growing blueberries when I was just about out of high school.”

The McConnells said 2016 was their last picking season. He says he has pickers who are 60 to 70 years old, some of whom have been coming to his farm since he opened in the fall of 1980. The berry farm was opened as a summertime venture. McConnell is a now-retired professor at West Virginia University, teaching electrical engineering for 32 years. His wife, Debby, is a retired public school teacher.

“We’ve just had so many good experiences and developed close relationships with our customers,” McConnell says.

With this wealth of knowledge and experience in his operation over the years, McConnell says it’s important for that information to be shared with those looking to enter the pick-your-own world, even on a small scale.

“There is a lot of information that experienced people have, but it isn’t written down,” he says.

Bob McConnell shows the easy-to-use way to raise or lower his bird netting for pickers. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Bob McConnell shows the easy-to-use way to raise or lower his bird netting for pickers. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Opportunities For The Next Generation
McConnell says a pick-your-own berry operation is a great opportunity for young people interested in farming in a smaller way. But, there are a few things someone hoping to get into farming should do.

First and foremost, before you plant anything, you need to know what you’re doing with the berries you will grow, McConnell says.

“The question they need to answer is how big of a population do you need to be able to support the number of acres you want to put in?” he asks.

McConnell says there should be a berry patch about their farm’s size – 2,000 plants on four acres — for every 50,000 people in an area. The average person eats about a half pound of berries a year, he says.

“How will you market your berries?” he says.

Depending upon what you choose to do – pick-your-own, etc. – you have to plan your farm differently. If you choose to have people come to your farm and pick, you also need to decide the frequency with which they come. The McConnells chose appointments so their need for staffing is lower, but if your berry farm is open all the time, you will need a higher level of help – and parking.

“Are you going to be open only three days a week? Are you selling by volume? You have to be able to handle the people,” he says. “How are they going to get access [to your farm and to your berries]? “Are you going to pick the whole field in one day? If so, you’re going to need lots of parking.”

Don’t forget the sinage, bathrooms, and handwashing stations either.

Deploying this crowd management strategy, his customers get their fill – and his berry plants get picked clean. He opens certain rows based on what looks ready, and by having a larger group of people in one area, it helps ensure berries will be had by all.

“About 30-35 appointments are as many as we can handle [at once],” he says. “If we have more, parking becomes a problem and the experience is more impersonal.”

It also helps to keep pickers interested in what’s open, McConnell says.

“If I come out to the field and see people in one section, I think ‘Gee, it must be important,’ more people in a field do a much better job of picking,” he says.

McConnell guesstimates about three people come per appointment, and leave with about four buckets full – or about 20 pounds of berries. Crowd management is only one of the components of operating a small farm, which McConnell says he’s learned over time.

Bob McConnell compares the berries from ‘Bluecrop’ in his hand with those on a ‘Chandler’ plant. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Bob McConnell compares the berries from ‘Bluecrop’ in his hand with those on a ‘Chandler’ plant. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

More Than One Variety
Several varieties are a must as well – to help spread out when berries are ready for picking. McConnell grows ‘Bluecrop,’ ‘Blueray,’ and ‘Chandler.’ He says ‘Bluecrop’ is a good variety, and with ‘Chandler’ and ‘Blueray,’ he’s noticing a difference in timing of pickings.

“‘Bluecrop’ is the best berry, until we found ‘Chandler,’” he says. “‘Bluecrop’ holds on the bush for a little while after it turns blue, and it holds up better in the freezer. It’s a little tart. ‘Chandler’ is much sweeter and very large. You just can’t get berries like that [with another variety].”

‘Bluecrop’ should be picked about 8-10 days after the first picking, whereas ‘Chandler’ and ‘Blueray’ need to be picked around 5-7 days.

It’s not just blueberries for McConnell. He has tried his hand with loganberries, boysenberries, and blackberries. But, he’s had more trouble with pruning and establishing the canes.

The last three years he’s set the caneberries below bubble wrap for overwintering, but with his attention focused on blueberries, the other berries haven’t fared as well.

“Can’t seem to make it worthwhile,” he says.

Site And Cultural Controls

McConnell says as far as full-time workers on the farm, it’s just him and his wife. Although, he hires help to do work when needed, such as adding bird netting.

“Because the netting interferes with other work in the field, you need to wait until it is actually necessary and then it needs to go up quickly . Bird netting is also something to consider for a new farm,” he says.

It helps to control the buildup of hungry snackers, and it also helps keep his berries clean.

“There are always a few birds that get inside; they always find the holes,” he says.

Bob McConnell’s approach to pruning helps ensure pickers see more of the large berries they will rave about. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Bob McConnell’s approach to pruning helps ensure pickers see more of the large berries they will rave about. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Then, comes the site concerns. A good water source is a must.

“Otherwise, don’t even bother,” he says

Then you need to understand exactly what it takes to grow a good berry – including proper pH. McConnell says pH of about 5 is best.

You should be able to get a reasonable sized crop in the third year after planting if well taken care of. If not, it could take longer. Some growers get discouraged when they don’t see results early on. McConnell says his strategy on pruning can help inexperienced growers can boost their berry size.

Pruning Pays Off
For inexperienced berry growers,In older plantings, pruning is probably the weakest link in older plantings. Pruning, McConnell says, is variety dependent. You need to know which buds to cut off and which to leave. For example, more detailed pruning is necessary on ‘Bluecrop’ to get good-sized berries.

“I’m convinced the pruning method described [in my column] is on the right path,” he says. “If you know how many fruit buds to leave, then you’ll know when to stop. If you know that, anybody can do a reasonable job pruning.”

Bigger berries ensure return visitors, quite simply. And, he’s noticed that pickers will pick more if the berries are larger.

“The better the berries they are, the cleaner they will get picked,” he says. “Proper pruning will pay off. They will pay for themselves.”

 

Damage to this berry plant is evident. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Damage to this berry plant is evident. (Photo credit: Christina Herrick)

Cicada Damage
For Bob McConnell, the 2016 growing season presented some challenges, especially from Mother Nature. This year marked the emergence of Brood V 17-year cicadas in Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

These periodical cicadas emerge in late May, often near woodlots, where females lay up to 400 eggs in 40 to 50 pockets of wood on small branches.

According to Greg Krawczyk of Penn State University Extension, females prefer branches about ½ inch in diameter. The female slices into the wood of the branch, and lays more than a dozen eggs in a single branch before moving on. This lasts about a month.

Nymphs hatch six or seven weeks later and fall to the ground and burrow into the soil, where they feed on grass roots and tree roots for 17 years before emerging again.

The damage from the egg-laying process was severe, and will affect next year’s crop as well.

“The cicadas really did a number on us,” McConnell says. “In some places loss is nearly 100%.”

Krawczyk says netting of young plants during emergence could help prevent damage, as long as the mesh is no larger than ¼ inch, and is placed as soon as the first male is heard singing. Pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides can also be applied.

McConnell doesn’t remember his berries being hit as hard in 1999, the last time this brood emerged. It is believed any soil disrupted by new construction or even tree removal can cause part of a brood to die off.

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