Its a wrap for Childs Blueberries UPICK 2024 (see * note to customers below) BUT, we will have fresh pints at the East Aurora Farmers Market and North Tonawanda City Market for several more weeks, take frozen Childs Blueberries orders delivered to the markets, along with products pictured. The Childs Farm Store is open by a mutually arranged time-use PM...message us.
***** A big thank you to all the many who filled our fields with laughter and peaceful "happy place" zen as you filled your baskets with what many consider the best blueberries on the planet. Each year the UPICK portion of our business grows larger and we continue to open up more and more of the fields to UPICK and next year, even more and earlier! We are honored you picked us to share your UPICK time with and to those who say, "Now that we have picked here, we will never go anywhere else" WOW, Thank you for that compliment. I started selling wild blackberries door to door at age six in South Buffalo, then had a route to deliver blueberries and vegetables door to door in East Aurora in my early teens, before there was even a farmers market to be found and have studied every printed word on blueberries for my entire life. I guess its my passion and I am glad to share it with you. See you next season. Farmer Dan
Childs Blueberries & Buffalo Ranch
Post Script (PS) Yes, progress being made on putting Buffalo in that big open field below the UPICK. Its a dream of mine waiting to be fulfilled, Lord willing. Dan Childs
CHILDS BLUEBERRIES & FARM WINERY
3172 Cooper Hill Road
Humphrey Township, Hinsdale Post Office, NY 14743
Text or Call 716.229.9779 Carrie; 716.378.2895 Dan
Email: ChildsBlueberryFarm@gmail.com
Grand OPENING: Tentatively Wednesday, July 17, 2024 although this year it may be earlier due to unseasonably warm weather this spring. We will post here once we know and on Facebook under Childs Blueberries
Some UPICK BLUEBERRY Farms in the lowlands will open a few days before us but if only a few scant berries are ripe, it takes too long to fill a bucket so we wait and good things come to those who wait--like easy to pick clusters of ripe and delicious Childs Beyond Organic Blueberries!
Pick Your Own in mowed, manicured fields, well maintained, the view stretches for miles, multiple varieties of blueberries to choose from and at this higher elevation (2250 feet above sea level) there are few, if any, mosquitoes and the soil, which was never amalgamated by the glaciers, is perfect for growing nutrient dense blueberries. One last benefit, besides mulching and weed whacking, we use agricultural vinegar to kill weeds which snakes hate so they leave.
WHAT TO BRING:
1. A picking bucket and containers to put your berries in after you pick them. We have picking buckets you can borrow--we lend it to you clean so we ask you to return it clean. We have containers to put your berries in at our cost.
2. There are picnic tables in the field. Please pack out what you pack in. Water, sunscreen, bug spray...poncho, sun hat, etc. You are coming to a farm so just give it some thought.
A true family farm micromanaged to improve quality,
health& safety of products.
By today's standards, we hands in the dirt farmers are few and far between but when you see and taste the difference between a old fashion farmer and a modern tractor jockey farmer, you will understand the difference.
At Childs Blueberries we use INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) techniques taught by Cornell to minimize the need to spray pesticides. As long as the pheromone traps are clear of pests, we don’t have to spray but if we catch one pest, like preventative medicine, we nip the problem in the bud before it multiplies using the mildest of sprays (derived from chrysanthemum flower) with low residual which washes right off in the rain. The key is to constantly monitor and micromanage the crop and only a small, TRUE family farm can do this.
We use hardwood sawdust to naturally keep acidity at the optimal levels. We send leaf samples to a laboratory who analyzes them to tell us what fertilizers (Iron, Potassium, Nitrogen, Trace Minerals, etc.) we need to retain the perfect soil for a tasty blueberry. We also irrigate the bushes, keep the fields well weeded and prune extensively. Beside "micro-managing" the field maintenance and upkeep, the blueberries we grow are so sweet because our soil is unique. Our hill top at 2250 feet did not have the soil amalgamated by the glaciers and thus it retained the naturally acidic, unique components that are like heaven on earth to blueberry bushes. Some folks in lowlands have decided they want to grow blueberries and forced the issue by chemically adjusting their soil to try to create the unique soil components which Cooper Hill has naturally but nature is tough to replicate and often the taste of the lowland blueberry is lacking. This soil contributes to Childs Blueberries being “nutrient dense” with all those “miracle berry” wonder components at higher levels than pretty much any berry grown anywhere not to mention a taste that is out of this world!
FREEZING BLUEBERRIES: place the entire carton of blueberries in the freezer until frozen. Pop the side of the carton and pour into the Bisphenol free, double thick Childs Blueberries freezer bags. Rinse when you take out just before using. We offer quantity discounts during peak season when we can harvest the most berries fast so watch for the limited time specials.
INCREASING SHELF LIFE: place a paper towel on the bottom of a bowl, pour in a layer of fruit, add a paper towel and repeat layers until done. Now place loose fitting tin foil over the bowl and refrigerate. This method will increase shelf life significantly.
Childs Play No Bake Pie: This is quick, easy and delicious! Combine 1 c. Childs blueberries and 3/4 c. water in medium sauce pan; simmer 3-4 minutes. Combine 3/4-c. sugar and 3 t. corn starch in a small bowl. Add sugar mixture to blueberries in saucepan; cook over medium heat stirring constantly until syrup is clear and thickened. Stir in 1 T. orange juice...Beat 8 oz. cream cheese until fluffy then add 2 T. orange juice mixing until well blended. Spread cream cheese mixture on to the bottom of a 9" graham cracker shell; cover with 3 c. FRESH Childs blueberries. Top with cooked blueberry mixture. Chill thoroughly and then top with whipped cream. Place a few choice berries on top of the whipped cream for decoration.
Blueberry Cobbler: Mix 2 c. flour, 1/2 c sugar, 4 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. melted butter, ½ tsp. salt, 1 c milk, 1 tsp. vanilla, together on low speed until smooth. Place into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Scatter 1-pint fresh or unthawed blueberries over the batter. Sprinkle with ¾ c. sugar. Pour 1 ½ c. boiling hot water covering everything but do not stir or mix. Carefully place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30’ Bob Childs of Childs Blueberries favorite.
Here is the bad news about mass production which has evolved since 1984
USA CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCE—99% of corporate mass production organic farms apply Spinosad sprays every 3-5 days by airplane or air blast sprayers and the food should not be eaten for three days after application and it does not wash off easily. They do this because pests did not just go away because they decided to become “organic” and people don’t want a worm in every berry. Washing highly recommended.
IMPORTED CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCE--Certification is often meaningless due to low standards of certification inspection. Most South American labor, where the winter fruit comes from, is exploited and the $3.99 for a 4.4 oz container of winter blueberries translates to $12.49 a pint even though the corporations pay the labor low wages and sometimes exposes these people to unsafe sprays and working conditions.
CONVENTIONAL or CORPORATE FARMS use herbicides, fungicides and NEONICOTINOIDS insecticides in their mass production of food. These are the machine picked, loss leader box stores dump on the market at different times. The NEONICOTINOIDS enter through the leaf and enter the green berry and as it ripens, protects it from bugs. Harvest, if the rules are followed but are often not, is not allowed for 30 to 42 days after application and residual is high and systemic meaning all the washing in the world may not remove the chemical. No wonder life expectancy is dropping in many parts of the country! NEONICOTINOIDS kill bees and are banned in Europe.
Frozen “WILD” from Maine sold in box stores labels their berries as wild although they are conventionally farmed sourcing their berries from South America to supplement their supply obtained from Maine. The “wild” moniker makes people think they are organic but they are not. "ALL NATURAL" farm is often a misnomer for "neglected farm". That is a worm in every other berry situation. This is why so many of the box store frozen organic berries have an off flavor.
