In April 2004, when Blue Harvest Farms proprietor Chris Pinto first bought seven acres of land, bulldozed the pine forest, and planted 5,000 blueberry bushes, he was preparing for a future in commercial blueberry farming.

After the first season's plentiful yield, he invited family and friends out to the farm to pick for free. Looking upon his fields, packed with happy adults and children, he said to his wife, "We've got 40 people out here, this is crazy. I know it's not just ‘cuz they're getting ‘em for free. They love it." And, at that point, he decided Blue Harvest would be a "U-Pick" farm.

Since that first harvest in June 2006, Blue Harvest Farms has opened every year in early June as the first blueberries ripen. For $10/gallon, families travel to Bush, Louisiana, just north of Covington, picking from morning to twilight every weekend in June and July. Pinto's berries are comprised of three different varieties: Brightwell, Powder Blue, and Pinto's personal favorite, Premier. Premier is the sweetest of the three and ripens the earliest, in the beginning of June. To Pinto, the Premier berry epitomizes what a blueberry should taste like. "You don't know it until you actually put one in your mouth and say, ‘Wow, that's how I would dream of a blueberry tasting,'" he says.

Pinto planted 41 rows, alternating the first 21 with Premier and Powder Blue, and the second half with Premier and Brightwell, to allow the bees to cross-pollinate. Julian Laine, Jr., a local beekeeper, provides the bees, and in turn, sells jars of honey at the farm.  "It's a great little circle of love we've got going," says Pinto.

Pinto is not yet certified organic because the Louisiana State Department of Agriculture and Forestry requires that farmers have a "clean field" for three years to qualify as organic, and Pinto used non-organic fertilizer his very first year. Since then, though, his methods have been wholly organic. He mulches the field with pine bark, the byproduct of a chip mill in Bogalusa. He has never sprayed pesticides or herbicides. Currently, he uses an organic fertilizer, but plans to replace it with a mix of peat moss and horse manure from a local horse farm.

South Louisiana and Mississippi berries ripen a whole month before Northern production states, which have late freezes to contend with. The blueberries here flower in February or March and produce fruit in April. The fruits color from green to red, and then red to blue.  Pinto says you know they're ripe when they just fall off the bush.

Pinto expects many more productive seasons at Blue Harvest Farms. "What people don't realize is that every year they grow, and they yield a lot more," Pinto explains. "So, it's like, ok, well, I gotta get more people out here to be able to consume the yield."

Kate Mooney

Blue Harvest Farms is located at 78495 Highway 21 in Covington, La. (985-809-9967) www.blueharvestfarms.com