Sprinkle's Blueberry Farm in Winston Salem Field Report

We have surveyed the field and have determined that it is time to close the field for the 2024 Season.

It has been our best season so far thanks largely to our faithful u-pick customers.

We will now begin our propagation and preparation of the field for planting an additional 500 bushes in February. We expect additional new varieties to be in production next season.

If you are looking for bushes from our nursery, start checking here for updates on bush sales in February. We are expanding our varieties so you can pair your bushes with appropriate pollinators and spread you harvest season over several months.

Field and bushes are dry this morning. Radar indicates rain not a threat for a few hours. Overcast and cool breeze out here this morning. Pickers are already here. Come on out!

We do have berries that need picking on our later variety today, Saturday. I estimate 25 to 30 Gallons on our new variety that are ready to pick. Will be easy picking but on only the 10 rows of 400 bushes nearest the tent. First come first serve. Opened at 6:30 AM and close when picked out or by 12:00 noon. I have posted a pictures of these bushes taken yesterday evening.

We are open again Today Thursday the 18th as this is a normally open day for picking and we want to maintain the schedule. Berries are dry and skies clear this morning. We do have our second crop of Overtime and Ochlocknee ripening quickly. Rain may be a problem for picking, although it would be welcome. I will update conditions and our intentions to open by 6:00 AM Thursday morning.

We will have buckets out and field open at 6:30 AM and will close again mid day around 11:00 AM or 12:00 PM if pickers are still picking.

Opened Saturday morning and pickers continued to fill their gallon buckets with ripe berries. Pickers are doing a good job of selecting the ripe berries and leaving the not quite ripe berries to hand for a few more days. We are transitioning over from our first varieties to our second varieties and will allow a few more days before opening the field for picking. Keep checking here.

Good picking day today will monitor field conditions for saturday picking. Check back here for update tomorrow evening.

This season has turned out to be quite a surprise for us here as our newer planted varieties have reached 3 years of age and are producing for the first time. The first picture is of the Ochlocknee blueberry. The Ochlockonee is a rabbiteye blueberry that is named after the Ochlockonee River in Southern Georgia. The variety was developed by D. Scott NeSmith in 2002. It was released jointly by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the US Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Services.

The Ochlockonee blueberry has a slightly longer ripening season than other blueberries. The fruit is not easily affected by cold and usually beats the late winter freezes because it produces berries relatively late in the season. The berries are large and sweet. We are getting the first ripe berries so let us know what you think of them. Remember to pick carefully as there are a lot of blue ones. Tickle them off to make sure they are sweet.

The second picture is the Overtime’ is a commercial variety intended for the hand harvest fresh market. The variety has medium sized, light blue fruit which has and an excellent fruity flavor and lacks the typical grittiness of rabbiteye blueberries. ‘Overtime’ ripens about one week earlier than ‘Powderblue’ and ‘Ochlockonee’, and has comparable yields. Both promise to offer fantastic yields that should excape late freeze and extend our picking season.

But we still cannot forget our old standards planted by Dad nearly 50 years ago. The Tiffblue and Primer

The Tifblue Blueberry was slowly introduced to the industry in the early 1950s to the 1960s in Georgia. The first commercial Tifblue Blueberry was released in 1955. Reaching a height of 6 to 8 feet tall, this blueberry variety produces a high yield of berries. When in bloom, the shrub will produce small white flowers that ripen into beautiful berries in mid-June to late July. The plant foliage is shiny bright green in the summertime and turns a gorgeous burgundy in autumn. The blueberries tend to be on the larger size and will be tart in taste until fully ripened. The Tifblue Blueberry produces pounds of berries if cared for correctly — they are avid growers. For seasoned pickers who master the art of tickling to identify the ripe sweet berry the taste cannot be beat!

The Premier Blueberry has been around since 1978. It was developed in a breeding program at South Carolina State University through a partnership with the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture. Premier Blueberry fruit will be ripe and ready to enjoy late May through early June, making the Premier a great mid season harvesting option. The early blooms are subject to late winter freeze that may tend to reduce the crop as we have found but do give us the benefit of the first harvest of the season. You have been enjoying both the Tiffblue and Premier so far this season. They are continuing to ripen and will be plentiful this weekend and if picked carefully are as sweet as candy.

Updated 7/9/2024
Just in from mowing and surveying the field. Looks like a mid season rally underway. PLENTY OF RIPE SWEET BERRIES. The first varieties are still producing and the heat along with our continuing irrigation has produced the best berries I have seen in the past 5 years. We will open Thursday morning at 6:30 AM and close again at 11:00 AM. This will assure we will have plenty of berries for Saturday the 13th. We do need to have alot of pickers as these berries need to come off the bushes by Saturday. Same schedule Saturday 6:30 till 11:00. We don't want you getting too hot. I will get a picture tomorrow and post to show how abundant berries are. Wayne Spoo will have his local Honey for sell here Saturday at 7:30.

We are open this morning. Berries are wet from brief shower last night so you may need to dry them before freezing. Picking continues to get more difficult as our second crop still needs more time for the majority to ripen. Weather will get hot and steamy very early today so we will close by 11:00 AM. If you can't make it by 10:00 AM it probably would not be a good day for you to pick.

As has been our tradition for over 40 years we will be open for the 4th of July tomorrow at 6:30. Come pick for your 4th desert. Cooler nights and weather since our last picking day has slowed ripening making picking some slower Thursday. There are plenty of really sweet berries but be prepaired to walk around. As always best picking is early.

As berries are ripening all over the field picking time has increased on average as pickers are moving among the more scattered berries. Picking time for 1 gallon has gone from about 1 hr to 1 hr and 15 min.

Early morning pickers enjoy the best picking. Will be open at 6:30 AM and close at 12:00 PM on Thursday the 4th. With the later varieties, more berries are on the way for the next few weeks.

Its Monday and I have just finished mowing the field in preparation for openning for day 6 tomorrow 7/2/2024. After close examination of every row and bush I estimate there is 300 to 400 Gallons of ripe berries that could be picked tomorrow. The first varieties are still producing and now the later new varieties are ripening. Be prepared to walk from row to row as the best picking will change as pickers move around. Come early bring your neighbors.

We will open the field Tuesday the 2nd, Thursday the 4th and Saturday the 6th this week. Heat is ripenning the berries fast. We are running irrigation to keep the berries big sweet and juicy. There were many ripe unpicked berries from last Saturday morning. Help us out by planning to be here early this week. I will have the tent set up with the picking buckets by 6:30 AM. Again we will close at 12:00 PM. We look forward to seeing you.

We closed the field at 12 noon. Our faithful web followers have once again given us a record day of picking. Was surprised to find our later varieties were starting to come in. Early pickers who were asked to sample them confirmed they were delicious so we will be adding more of that variety.

Will allow some more berries to ripen and open again in a few days so keep watching.

Good morning all we are in the field this morning and the berries are dry. We have a pleasant breeze and cloud cover. Perfect picking. Guest are arriving already. Plenty of big juicy sweet berries and later varieties also starting to come in. It is 6:30 and 25 pickers are already here. Hope to see you shortly.

Weatherman is teasing us about a small chance of rain tomorrow but we are going to continue with our plan to open at 6:30.

Obviously you will want to keep an eye on the weather. If the berries are wet you will need to dry them before freezing but if you are going to use them immediately moisture on them want hurt. Please check here for latest field conditions before leaving. I will post a new update by 6:30 AM Saturday and will update as conditions change.

After a shortened Wednesday Picking day we are preparing for a another good day of picking this Saturday the 29th. There are plenty of berries and there will be plenty of sweet ripe berries. It is important that you know how to select the ripe berries so please ask me for an explanation. I don't want you spending time picking a bucket of un-sweet berries. Remain mindful of the extreme heat and full sun and come as early as you can. I will have buckets out at the tent by 6:30 AM so if I am not at the tent when you arrive just get your bucket and put in plastic liner and begin picking.

Picking will still be in our first ripening varieties with start in about 15 rows down from the tent or Row Stake number 76.

You will find ripe berries on about 35 rows so be prepaired to walk around. Look high and low and inside bushes. I will see you Saturday,

We need to get more berries picked Wednesday 6/26.We are running our deep well
irrigation pump around the clock dripping at least 10 gallons of water per bush per week. Berries continue to ripen. We will shorten our usual morning pick by one hour for tomorrow only. We will be open before 7:00 AM and close at 11:00 AM. We will plan for a regular schedule this Saturday. Please come early.

Updated 6/23/2024Yesterday (Saturday the 22nd) proved to be the best picking so far. We had a record number of pickers and the ripe berries were plentiful.

The weather was typically hot but the early morning breeze was represhing especially for the pickers who were able to arrive early.

We still have an abundance of ripening berries that will need to be picked in the next several days. I will be keeping a close eye on the berries as the Primer and Tifblues varieties are still loaded and will continue ripening over the next few weeks.

Our other new varieties will be ripening soon so we expect our picking season to continue well into next month. I hope pickers will continue to help us manage our picking schedule by watching the updates and planning to visit and pick as we continue to open and close the field to assure there will be plenty of ripe sweet berries for you. Got some new pictures added below.

I was concerned that closing the field Tuesday after only 2 half days of picking with so many unpicked blue berries until Saturday may have been too long. I have just come in from mowing the field again in preparation For Saturday's 7:00 AM opening. I have seen the best picking conditions that I have witnessed since taking over management of the field. Plenty of sweet berries. Please ask me for instructions on selecting the ripe berries if you have not watched the videos or have not had experience identifying and picking the best berries. Tomorrow will be a good day to learn.

Please account for the heat and be here early. I will be at the tent at 6:30 AM and will let you in. We again will close at 12:00 PM. Bring plenty of water, sun screen and insect repellant. The grass has been cut close to help eliminate as many insects as possible.

Bring lower denominations of cash as we run out of small bills. The average picker with modest skill level will pick a gallon in 1 hour that will be between $18 and $20 so have some 1s 10s and 20s if possible.

One more note. I have had some loss of my voice over the last couple of days so If I cannot speak to you I can point you to the directions on preparing your picking buckets with liners and show you how to weigh and price you berries.

Come out and have some fun with us in the morning bring the family and neighbors as we need to pick several hundred pounds of ripe berries tomorrow. Wayne will be here with his honey that bees harvested as they pollinated the blueberries this spring.

Lots of good picking today with early morning pickers getting the started a little before 7:00 AM.

We will close for a few days to allow for more berries to rippen. We thing it may be Saturday morning but keep check here. Got some more Gallery pictures added today. Check Below.

Just returned from the field at 6 PM. Tomorrow will definitely be a two hand picking day so bring bucket hanging rope or belt so you can pick your bucket before the heat. Plenty of ripe berries!

We opened our U-Pick Season today, Monday morning 6/17/2024 at 7:00 AM. Our regular pickers understanding the need to beat the heat started arriving before 7:00 AM and the clouds made for a perfect picking day!
We continue our practice of closing the field at 12:00 noon.

As usual we had a big day of picking and we will keep the field closed on Tuesday to allow more berries to ripen. We have a lot of berries that will be ready on Wednesday the 19th.

Our local Bee Keeper stopped by today and will bring some of the Honey made from our blueberries for you to sample and buy this Saturday.

Don't forget to bring a hat and sun screen and some insect repellant with plenty of liquids to drink.

This year looks to be our best year as our new 4 and 3 year old Tiffblue bushes are loaded with berries that finally escaped the late winter freeze and frosts.

You will be picking in our 1 gallon buckets with liners so you want have to buy the bucket.

We will not have prepicked berries. Our U-Pick price is $3.00 per pound which amounts to about $ 2.85 per pint or about $20.00 per gallon. If you would like to buy one of our bushes we will have 2 year old bushes for $20 and 3 year old Tifblue bushes for $30.00. If you can plant them where you can water them they should begin to produce berries for you next year.

Berries are turning. I will keep updating regularly so you will be able to make plans to be here.

Bees have been busy this April and we had a good bloom. Unlike the past 3 years we escaped much of the damaging freeze that significantly reduced our harvest then. I will be posting more information and pictures as we get closer to opening around mid June.

Once again we are looking forward to a visit from Wayne Spoo, our local beekeeper, who plans to visit with us this year. We will keep you posted of times here.

Blueberries are one of the most popular berries in America and are native to North America. To get all those berries, each plant can produce thousands of flower buds, each with a potential blueberry with successful pollination. Blueberry pollination requires a lot of heavy lifting on the part of bees. Many types of native bees can do a small part of the work, but the largest part of the pollination work is done by the honey bee. The honey bee goes from flower to flower, collecting the nectar and spreading the pollen from one flower to another and giving us two things: Blueberries and honey!

The honey you get from Hat Creek Apiaries likely contains quite a bit of pollen from the blueberries at Sprinkles Blueberry Farm. Our hives are located within a 1/2 mile of the farm, and honey bees are known to forage up to at least 2-3 miles from their hive location. Here is a photo of one of our hive locations.

In addition to the blueberry nectar and pollen, our honey is made from the nectar and pollen from red and silver maple, willows, holly, many ornamentals and fruit trees, redbud trees, dandelions, red and white clover, tulip poplar, black locust, black gum and whatever other plants are growing within a 2-3 mile radius of the farm.

Hat Creek Apiaries honey is premium honey that has been certified by the NC State Beekeeper Association. As stated on their website (realnchoney.com), you can be certain that the premium honey you buy from us is exactly what the label says:

Real 100% honey made in North Carolina with no additives or flavorings! Unscrupulous individuals often purchase bulk honey from other regions or countries, labeling it as their own, or adding other cheaper sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. You can trust RealNCHoney certified honey to be exactly what it says it is: raw honey produced by honey bees foraging on plants from the fields, woodlands and swamps of North Carolina. Hat Creek Apiaries is one of many certified honey producers on the NC Certified Honey Producer Registry list.

Stop by our table during your blueberry picking time and take home some great tasting honey produced by the beekeeper and the honey bees at Hat Creek Apiaries!

Wayne Spoo

Mobile: 336-406-4466

Certified Honey Producer

You are watching the web for updates and that is very helpful for getting berries picked as they ripen.

We determined that our actual loss due to the late freeze was most likely in the 70% range last year. We have been introducing later varieties that are in production this year that should help us avoid freeze damage and extent our picking season as well.

Bring the family we need to get some pictures for the 2024 "Pickin & Grinin" gallery. (If I'm busy at the table let me know to grab the camera or feel free to send your picture to me.)

We opened 12 days earlier last year which surprised us all. Looks like we may be early again this year. Thank you to all who faithfully watch this page and responded on short notice.

Possibly the conventional practice of Pruning in February along with our aggressive nutrition and irrigation regiment may be partly to blame for early blooms.

Summer pruning has been a technique found to delay blooming by nearly two weeks. We gave this a try but the weather keeps us guessing.

Please either bring small cash denominations or be prepared to use Zelle for payment.

Berries are all over the field in several varieties. If you are new ask me how to pick the ripest berries or watch the videos on the Helpful Hints page.

We are fine tuning our drip irrigation and fertigation program and the bushes are responding. The new 8 minute Video on this page shows how we can monitor plant and fruit health by SAP analysis using a field refractometer. I will go into more details later as to why our soil sample reports may not have shown us that our irrigation water pH of 7.5 could be a problem.

We have recently been certified by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture as a Registered Nursery.

Our picking buckets will hold a bit overover 1 Gallon. So that you can gauge your Weight and price here is a picture of our bucket marked with Lbs and price.

If you are interested in the process of restoring our field please view the YouTube Video on the home page of this web site. I have spent about two years collecting video shots that demonstrate how we propagated our bushes from our existing best producers. I will share how we prepared the field for the new planting and see our new fertigation system in operation.

We are so thankful for your support which confirms to us that our ongoing restoration work to expand our production is important.

The results so far have exceed our expectations. We have been able to better manage both timing and quantity of the fertilization. We are anxious for you to see the improvement.