2024 Blueberry Season Begins

Date: May 28, 2024

Author: Roberts

Categories: NEWS

It’s Official – Blueberry season begins!

How refreshing to finally see a great mass of blueberries at the end of May! It has been several years since we’ve seen blueberries in May. This year, in 2024, the berries are beautiful, and the bushes are loaded.

Overview of our schedule

We will open Wednesday, May 29th, 2024 for a morning pick only (no evening pick). Then our normal days and hours will start the following day – on Thursday, May 30th with both a morning and an evening pick. We will keep our regular days of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays with the normal morning and evening picks. PLUS, we will be adding some days according to how the ripening progresses.

This WEEK’s Schedule

Wednesday, May 29th – Morning Pick 8 AM to 11 AM (before it gets hot) No evening pick on this day.

We will be open these days with both
a Morning Pick 8 AM to 11 AM, and Evening Pick 6 PM to 9 PM
Thursday May 30th
Sunday, June 2nd
Tuesday, June 4th

Stay Tuned as extra days will most likely be added as the season progresses.

If you have a large group, please call (706) 518-8869 and we will try to accommodate your schedule.

How it works

We provide a bucket and liner. You keep the liner to gently carry your berries home. It’s that easy! The bucket size is two and a half quarts and the price is $20 per bucket. So all you have to do is show up… best if you wear a hat.

Directions to RabbitEye Farm (and a cool little map)

Do you spray your plants?

No. Our berries are grown with organic practices and are not sprayed with any pesticide. The only thing we put on our berry plants is rain, and when it doesn’t rain, we water them with spring water.

What if it rains?

Our pick days are rain or shine. The berries are definitely fresh, rain-washed is a bonus! If Mother Nature sends some rain… its a great chance to wear your boots. (Picking in the rain has proven to be more fun than you would think.)

Signs o’ Spring

Date: February 15, 2023

Author: Roberts

Categories: Daily Life

There are definite signs of Spring even though Phil, the Punxsutawney Groundhog, has predicted six more weeks of winter.

Last year, Spring came too early. The problem with temperatures getting really warm in February is that fruiting plants will bloom even though frost is still likely to happen. Frost kills the blossoms and also any fruit they might produce. That scenario is exactly what happened in 2022. Luckily we have several varieties that mature at different times. (All the varieties that bloomed later were fine and produced blueberries in June.)

June is not our busiest month, January is!

Who would think that the dormant season would be busy? In January, the blueberry plants are sleeping, grass isn’t growing, weeds have died back, its cold, days are short, and we certainly don’t need to irrigate. However, to stay healthy, the plants require maintenance. Come to think of it, that is true in just about every aspect of life. If its important, you need to take care of it. Sometimes its easy, other times it requires a bit of effort. Blueberry maintenance is no different and is needed when the plants are dormant. In Georgia, they aren’t dormant very long, so January is basically it.

This year began with trying to acquire enough pine straw mulch. How could that possibly be a problem when pine straw is everywhere? Our blueberries require over 250 bales. We are a small farm using organic practices, so we prefer to rake our own. However, that has not worked out for a couple of years. This year we had to purchase and haul it from central Georgia.

Putting the pine straw down is actually the last step in this maintenance process, so let me back up. First, underneath each blueberry bush, all the plants that are invasive like honeysuckle, wild muscadine, and briars have to be rooted out by hand. Yes, pulled by hand because we do not use any herbicides. Have you ever tried pulling out wild muscadine and honeysuckle? There is very little fun in it.

Secondly, each blueberry plant was pruned. (This is where you cut out branches that are too high, too low, too old, or rub across another branch, etc.) The next steps in the process were to fix all the places in the irrigation that the neighbors dog dug up and chewed in half, and then apply compost to all the rows. After all this was done, we could finally cover all the rows with a thick layer of pine straw. Whew!

2023 pine straw

Spring temperatures

All during this time, the weather has been getting warmer. Each day we can see the buds getting bigger. Blueberry buds are a reddish color on the stem. The blossoms emerge white, but are closed at first. Right now, there are only a few blossoms that have fully opened. They look like old-timey lady bloomers.

Blueberry buds 2023

First Blueberry Blossoms

The temperatures are supposed to be really warm this week. Take note of all the signs of spring with daffodils blooming and birds making nests. I even noticed a moth at my kitchen window last night.

I will try to keep you posted on the blueberries. They won’t be ripe until June, but things are starting to stir. Right now, things are looking really good. Everything is fresh and renewed. (Luckily the mosquitoes have not gotten the spring message yet.)

Great Opening Day

Date: June 8, 2022

Author: Roberts

Categories: NEWS

Beautiful opening day turnout

Thank you to all the beautiful folks that picked rain-washed blueberries on Tuesday! Opening day was great with the weather cooperating. It was not too hot, not too sunny, and not raining – although it was still a little wet from previous showers. (see next pick information below!)

Next Pick

Would you like to get some farm-fresh berries that are high in antioxidants too? We have more blueberries and blackberries ripening every day. (plentiful blueberries, early-birds get the blackberries).
Our next pick day is Thursday, June 9th, 2022. Morning pick is 8AM – 11AM and Evening pick is 6PM – 9PM
We are open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays in June while the berries are ripe.

Directions

Click HERE to view a page with an easy map, GPS address, and driving directions.

What do you need to bring?

We supply a bucket with a liner. You pick your berries into this bucket and then gently lift out the liner (we also supply a twist tie) and you carefully carry your berries home. It’s easy! The size of the bucket is a generous 2 & a half quarts and the price is $15. We take cash and PayPal. So the only “equipment” you may want to bring is a hat… or maybe boots if it continues to rain.

Berry Picking Opens June 7th, 2022

Date: June 6, 2022

Author: Roberts

Categories: NEWS

Three days a week – Three weeks of berry picking starts now – June 7th

Welcome to summer blueberry picking 2022! It’s a short season, but the blueberries are ripening fast with huge “first fruits.” Rabbiteye Farm will be open for blueberry picking TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, and SUNDAYS beginning Tuesday, June 7th! Morning picks are 8AM – 11AM and Evening picks are 6PM – 9PM.

Summertime is definitely here and you can taste it in the berries! If you’ve never picked blueberries before, look for the biggest and darkest blue berries like the ones on the left, and more will continue to ripen each day.

Blueberries are “SmileBerries!” Both the smiles and the blueberries are wonderful. (We grow our berries with organic practices and do not use any pesticides.)

2022 blueberries are taste-tested and approved for picking beginning June 7th!

What do you need to bring?

We supply a bucket with a liner. You pick your berries into this bucket and then gently lift out the liner, we also supply a twist tie, and you carefully carry your berries home. Easy! The size of the bucket is a generous 2 & a half quarts and the price is $15. We take cash and PayPal. So the only “equipment” you may want to bring is a hat.

When does it get hot?

It starts getting hot around 10:30AM, that’s why our morning pick hours are from 8 – 11AM. It’s beautiful picking early in the morning. In the evening, if its sunny, shade begins on the berries around 6PM and picking is great by 7PM. That’s why our evening pick hours are from 6 – 9PM. We are rain or shine.

What about Blackberries?

June 7th is still a little early for our blackberries, but you may find a few that are ripe. Both blueberries and blackberries can be picked in the same bucket. The price is the same.

Three weeks of berry picking starts June 7th.

Our pick days are every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday with regular morning and evening pick hours on those days. We hope to see you this season! Thank goodness the berries are finally ripening!