Regional Food / Nature’s superfood, blueberries
In the heart of South Canterbury lies a haven for blueberry lovers.
PICKING YOUR OWN BERRIES IS A TRUE KIWI experience, and blueberry lovers looking to get their hands on the delightfully juicy, pocket-sized superfruit need look no further than Blueberry Haven. With New Zealanders choosing to eat more blueberries than ever before, a change in lifestyle has turned into a thriving business for the Kerrytown couple.
Robyn McDonald admits she knew nothing about growing blueberries when she and partner, Mike Coombs, took over Blueberry Haven in 2017. ‘I didn’t even really eat blueberries then. But we saw it on the market and wanted a change in lifestyle. I just thought it would be pretty cool,’ she says. ‘The previous owners had put in all the hard work. They had built the house and planted the blueberries.’
It was a steep learning curve for Robyn, who initially kept her day job as a dental therapist. But with a surge in the popularity of blueberries nationwide with their elevation to a superfood, their timing was perfect.
Widely known as a nutritional powerhouse, containing higher antioxidant levels than just about any other fruit or vegetable, blueberries pack a real punch, proving that good things really do exist in small packages, says Robyn.
These tasty little morsels offer twice as many health-giving antioxidants as spinach, more than three times as many as oranges, red grapes and cherries and more than four times as many as grapefruit, white grapes, bananas and apples.
Blueberries possess flavonoid anthocyanin, which not only gives them their intense colour but is the antioxidant with the greatest impact against free-radical damage. They’re also good for gut health, anti-ageing and brain function, can lower the risk of heart disease and cancer, and have antiinflammatory properties.
But it takes lots of horticultural know-how and hard work to get delicious blueberries ready for picking in summer. While blueberries are not difficult to grow, they prefer free-draining soil, peaty forests and acidic soil conditions (pH 4.5–5.5). They are quite particular, explains Robyn. ‘They like shelter, don’t mind cold winters, but like sun and rain. But don’t like getting their feet wet.’
Hailing from Canada and North America, the shallow-rooted perennial blueberry shrubs are part of the Ericaceae family, which includes azaleas, rhododendrons, heaths and heathers. They’re divided into three main species: lowbush, highbush and rabbiteye with dozens of varieties in each.
At Blueberry Haven they grow three varieties: blueray, bluecrop and some rabbiteye varieties. Bluecrop is the most widely grown variety in the world, known for its prolific medium-sized firm berries. Blueray has large, dark blue, firm fruit with good flavour. Both are earlier varieties, whereas the rabbiteye varieties tend to come in later. They don’t ripen all at once. Each produce fruit for several weeks until the next one is ready.
Most trees in the orchard are coming up 10 years old, and every year they are producing more and more fruit.
Robyn is slowly making her way through the orchard, replacing weaker plants with new ones. She has also planted more rabbiteye varieties.
To get the most from the new plants, Robyn removes the flowers in the first few seasons to encourage the roots and foliage to grow. It isn’t until around the fourth year after planting that they harvest their first crop.
While it’s busy on the orchard during the summer, Robyn says the rest of the year it is pretty flexible. ‘They are not really labour intensive. Other than pruning, weeding and mulching they just do what they are supposed to do.’
She removes the nets after harvest, fertilises in the autumn, prunes in winter and puts straw down as mulch in October/November in a bid to keep the weeds at bay. Any other weeding and pest control is done by hand. Although they are not strictly organic – they can’t be because they are surrounded by large cropping farms that spray – they are spray free. To protect the blueberries from birds, nets go on in November.
The pruning is probably the single most time-consuming part, says Robyn. Blueberries fruit on the previous season’s wood so you have to be careful not to remove too much when pruning. ‘It’s important to remove dead or diseased wood, and any branches that cross over so there’s a gap in the middle for the air to circulate. It’s not difficult, but you have to think about it when you’re doing it so hopefully you get it right. But you won’t really know until the following season.’
Since retiring from her day job two years ago, Robyn tends to the orchard herself, with Mike pitching in when needed.
Initially, Robyn and Mike employed pickers and sold their fruit directly as the previous owners had done, but as time has gone on, they have given that up to focus entirely on pick-your-own with people visiting the orchard from all over the central South Island. ‘We just found that sometimes it was hard to move the fruit on and get paid, whereas there is something appealing about pick-your-own. It’s not just about the fruit, but about giving people an experience. A nice day in the country.’
While it’s busy on the orchard during the summer, Robyn says the rest of the year it is pretty flexible. ‘They are not really labour intensive.’
With interest in farmers’ markets and people wanting to know more about the origin of their food, the pick-your-own side of the business has grown organically via word of mouth over the past three seasons, and Robyn’s expecting even more visitors this season.
‘We’ve slowly been getting our name out there. Last season was incredible. There was just hundreds and hundreds of people turning up, from tourists to the elderly and grandparents bringing their grandchildren. A lot of people come back time and time again. I really enjoy getting to know all the different people.’
Customers are given a container and can just pick as many blueberries as they want. While Robyn expects people to eat some while picking, she says it relies on honesty, and to date, they haven’t experienced too many problems. ‘Generally, people are really good. They just enjoy the experience. A lot of people find it therapeutic. They’re really simple to pick. They just roll off in your hand.’
The season runs from December through to March, depending on the weather. The decision on whether to open for pick-your-own is made daily depending on the weather and the quality of the fruit available. ‘It’s a balancing act between people picking them all out and having enough for people to pick. We want people to have a good experience. Sometimes you have to wait four to five days for more berries to ripen.’
Blueberry Haven also supplies a couple of cafés, with excess fruit sold through their onsite shop, either fresh or frozen, or at local farmers’ markets.
They currently have about 1,500 shrubs, producing on average 6 kg of berries each season, which Robyn says for now is big enough for her to operate on her own. She hasn’t ruled out further expansion in the future.
But for now, as the berries begin to change from green to blue, Robyn’s gearing up for another busy season ahead of hand-picked fun. Weather going well, she hopes to have the orchard open from mid-December.
‘A lot of people find it therapeutic. They’re really simple to pick. They just roll off in your hand.’