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Photos by Theophil Syslo, from this article published by Bates College, summer 2019. Check it out to learn more about us!
Changes during COVID-19
We are still open, and shipping both our frozen berries and our dried wild blueberry powder, as long as our local supplier of dry ice stays open and FedEx and the USPS are actively delivering packages.
However, due to intensive increase in demand, we have instigated some rationing measures: we will no longer make more than 15 lbs. available to any one customer at one time. As of March 22nd, if you order more than 15 lbs., we will refund the dollar amount above 15 lbs. and only send you 15 lbs., until further notice. We have also removed all of our six-month subscription deals for the time being --sorry.
Finally, we must also limit the number of orders that we can ship in a given week to 25. We are very busy with the farm work, off-farm work, as well as processing and filling your blueberry orders, and cannot put out more than 25 per week. Within a few days of placing an order, you will receive an email from us with a proposed shipping date, which may be a week or more ahead.
We appreciate your understanding in this time of crisis, and especially appreciate your interest in and support of small-scale family farming. We will always maintain that food = medicine = health!
Choose Maine. Choose Organic. Choose Wild.
B L U E B E R R I E S !
We supply the highest quality, certified organic Maine wild blueberries, shipped year-round, from our family farm to anywhere in the continental U.S. You are buying directly from us, the farmers —so you can “know your farmer,” and know that we grow and produce our berries under strict organic management with third-party verification (MOFGA Certified Organic since 1997). No buyers and re-sellers, no middle-men or distributors or corporate agribusiness, no wholesalers or freight shippers. Direct from our farm to you.
And no factory or industrial-scale harvesting or processing either. Our wild blueberries are hand-raked into small totes in the full height of summer, when they are at their peak ripeness, and they are frozen within the day they are harvested and winnowed on our family farm. This is in contrast to the more factory-scale “IQF” (Individual Quick Frozen) wild blueberries --that are produced by the large processors and distributors, and that you find in grocery store freezer aisles-- where the berries are machine harvested into large totes, then soaked in a solution before freezing and laser-sorting. Unlike the IQF berries, our berries still have their “bloom” intact, which is the whitish powdery coating on the skin of each berry (the “epicuticular wax”) that protects it and helps maintain its just-picked qualities —their summer ripeness is captured unaltered. This means our berries thaw out to look and taste just like they were fresh.
We ship our frozen berries responsibly and intentionally in eco-friendly packaging, using a recyclable cardboard shipping box lined with a U.S.-grown non-GMO corn-based insulating foam (not polystyrene) that is biodegradable and compostable. Since no other alternative ice-packs in our trials proved to keep our frozen berries frozen in transit, we use dry ice to insure that our wild blueberries arrive at your door fully frozen. The highest quality food in the highest quality packaging.
And no factory or industrial-scale harvesting or processing either. Our wild blueberries are hand-raked into small totes in the full height of summer, when they are at their peak ripeness, and they are frozen within the day they are harvested and winnowed on our family farm. This is in contrast to the more factory-scale “IQF” (Individual Quick Frozen) wild blueberries --that are produced by the large processors and distributors, and that you find in grocery store freezer aisles-- where the berries are machine harvested into large totes, then soaked in a solution before freezing and laser-sorting. Unlike the IQF berries, our berries still have their “bloom” intact, which is the whitish powdery coating on the skin of each berry (the “epicuticular wax”) that protects it and helps maintain its just-picked qualities —their summer ripeness is captured unaltered. This means our berries thaw out to look and taste just like they were fresh.
We ship our frozen berries responsibly and intentionally in eco-friendly packaging, using a recyclable cardboard shipping box lined with a U.S.-grown non-GMO corn-based insulating foam (not polystyrene) that is biodegradable and compostable. Since no other alternative ice-packs in our trials proved to keep our frozen berries frozen in transit, we use dry ice to insure that our wild blueberries arrive at your door fully frozen. The highest quality food in the highest quality packaging.
organic wild blueberries -- from our farm to you!
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And now, a personal note, from your farmer:
If I ran the zoo —you know, if I was really in charge of everything— I would make everybody eat at least one serving of wild blueberries every day. I mean, it wouldn’t be that much to ask, and certainly isn’t painful, and would be so good, for everyone! They taste so good, are naturally sweet, are useful and adaptable in so many different ways, for breakfast, lunch or dinner in cereals, baked goods, smoothies, with other fruit or just by themselves…..AND, they’re incredibly healthy, too! Now I don’t think I’d ask for everyone to stop eating candy bars or french fries or drinking soda —that might be asking a little too much— but to require a daily dose of blueberries seems a small demand that would help make everyone more healthy, and happy. So, here’s your chance to help advance my cause: we are one of the only producers of frozen organic wild blueberries that can be shipped year round, from our farm to your door. You can try some of our blueberries in your own smoothies, whenever you like. Or with yogurt. Or make a batch of blueberry muffins, or a blueberry pancake breakfast for the family this weekend. The happiness and health possibilities are endless! Enjoy! --Nicolas |