Is The Berry Patch Organic?
We receive this question a lot every year, and the short answer is No, but the long answer is a bit more in depth.
We do use fungicides and herbicides to control diseases among our fields, it is important to note that NONE of these chemicals are applied TO THE FRUIT. Blueberries are not native to Missouri, and are prone to many diseases and fungus. We have tried organic farming practices with blueberries and lost the majority of the crop, while also finding the cost was unsustainable for both us and the customer. With these fungicides and herbicides we are able to successfully eradicate much of the limb and leaf diseases that are so common here in Missouri. Our blueberry plants are sprayed with these chemicals during late February and early March, before any blooms show on the plants. Once the blooms begin to show, we are done spraying the blueberry plants.
During the rest of the spring and summer we use different weed control measures to treat for weeds that rapidly take over throughout our patches. These products are “spot-sprayed” so that the weed killer is directly sprayed onto the weeds. We are very careful about our application as if it were to be applied to our plants, they would be killed just like the weeds.
We eat these blueberries too, unwashed, right off the bush. Our kids have done so since they could walk, and we ourselves have eaten them since we were little. We would not use these products if we believed they were harmful to your family or to our own!
The basic truth is this: we have evaluated what it would take for us to grow organic blueberries, and on our scale it just simply isn’t possible. You would be paying $10-$20 per POUND of blueberries every time you came to pick, and we would be out of business. It is also nearly impossible to keep the bushes healthy and with a large crop to meet demand without treating for the limb and leaf diseases.
For this reason, we are able to grow fantastic, large, disease and insect free, flavorful blueberries, that we consider 100% safe right off the bush, at a price you can afford.