Next wave of berries looks great!

Hi Blueberry Fans:

We're at a temporary lull in the picking right now. We have 6-7 different kinds of berries which ripen at different times of year. They seem to come in three phrases. The first phase comes around the end of June, beginning of July. Then we get another phase around mid-July. Finally the last phase comes around the beginning of August. Each of the past 5 years has been slightly different, based on temperature and rainfall. In the past few years (discounting last year's mini-drought) our heaviest picking was actually in the last phase.

We're also experiencing a boom in # of people picking. This is good and bad news. We're happy to have so many people interested, but it's frustrating for some people who come at 11AM and find that we're already mostly picked out. And, we've not been able to be open many days this summer because the crowds have been so big (because we have to close for 3-4 days to ripen). I learned recently that Black River Organics has opened in Wellington, OH. This is good news! They've converted a traditional soy/corn production into organic fruit. We're hopeful some of you south of here will be able to enjoy that location (or visit us both!) .

2008 Season in progress

Things are shaping up nicely for this picking season. A lot of rain so far has meant larger berries that are not quite as sweet as in previous years. Still, they are tasty, organic and plentiful.
Our new web presence and e-mail update list are changing the way picking happens, however. There are now over 350 names on the e-mail list. The Plain Dealer is running a story on local U-pick farms and we show up on pickyourown.org. Where we used to be open 5-6 days a week, we only have enough supply now to be open for 2-3 days a week at most.

Many people think that blueberries are a July 4th event, but our season is only just starting then. This year we're even a week or so behind the previous few years. We probably won't hit our pick picking time until the first week of August (the time when there are fewer berries coming than there are ripe). Go to our website http://home.centurytel.net/chancecreekblues/ if you need more info. Come on out when you can - call first, though! 440-965-5591