I shared in my September post that we are looking to get the farm organically certified. A good farmer friend shared with me a company I can use to proceed with the organic certification. There are lots of rules that need to followed to make sure that we conduct everything in a clean manner on the farm. One of the major rules that we need to follow is our land has to be clean for exactly 3 years and no less, meaning no pesticides or anything sprayed. Looks like we need to wait until November 2026 in order to apply for certification.
I have noticed that Whole Foods, though that they are selling strawberries that are not USDA Organic certified by the government, but that specify on their labeling, no pesticides non-GMO product. This approach is very similar to our approach, but we actually don’t spray with anything on our blueberries.
We also had soil testing done this past month and we were a bit nervous that the acidity levels are not optimal for the blueberry bushes, but much to our surprise, levels for the soil came back normal. The soil for blueberry bushes must be acidic.
This past year there was a bit of a drought in our area. I had no idea we were having a drought because I was pregnant and trying to get lots done before baby arrived. Multiple people brought it to my attention that the berries are quite small. I asked a local farmer what he thinks and without hesitation he mentioned lack of water is the problem. I thought our irrigation system was set up only to water the flower field but my husband showed me how to use the system to manually water the blueberry fields. Within one week, we noticed a huge improvement.
We were also able to harvest almost 1000 pounds of blueberries and bring them back to Chicago in 5 pound boxes to sell. Make sure you are in contact with us if you’d like fresh no spray blueberries next season.