Summer is in full swing and so is blueberry picking and harvesting!
Last week we took a trip to one of our fields in Sheridan, Oregon and met up with HBF Co-owner and grower Mark Hurst for an action packed day of picking and packing!
A few fun facts from the day (yes, this was all done in one single day!):
Our refrigerated trucks referred to as “reefers” are parked out in the field (we had 4 that day to fill) to start the cooling process.
On this day we had a hard working crew of about 220 pickers as well as other support staff on site.
One white bucket holds around 12 to 13 pounds of blueberries and our pickers usually take 4 buckets out with them at a time.
It was estimated they picked over a 100,000 pounds that day which is an average of 500 pounds per person. We were amazed at the speed in which they pick the berries is an amazing thing to watch. They are certainly a very skilled group.
The blueberry variety we were picking that day is called “Duke.”
The day starts early for our hard working crews.
Did you know that one blueberry bush can produce over 10 pounds of berries?
Freshly picked, ready to be freshly packed!
Our Quick Sort is just the first of many processes, ensuring that only the very best berries make it to the market and your table. (We have an entire blog coming up for you on this topic.)
Once sorted for the best quality, trays are loaded into the reefer trucks so the cooling process begins immediately.
Headed for the packing sheds, these blue beauties begin their journey fresh from our fields and straight to your table!
We hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at how we operate and who we are. Be on the lookout for additional blogs on the different varieties of berries we grow, more on the cooling and packing process, and all things fresh!
Have a great week!
The HBF Family