Sprinkle's Blueberry Farm in Winston Salem Field Report

As of today 5/4/2025 it appears we may be past freeze and frost potential for this season. We did have several freeze frost events with the worst morning on Sunday before Easter (April 13th) Our Tifblue and Premier were in nearly full bloom. We suspected we may have suffered damage on those early bushes but so far the berries are still developing and not showing signs of damage. I am working on a ripening chart for the varieties of berries we are growing to help determine both the best variety to escape damage from the late season frosts and to provide a longer harvest season as different varieties ripen. Looks like we will have more berries than we can get picked due partly to the increased number of maturing bushes. I have bought reflective bird tape to apply in hopes that the birds will not move in again as they did on those big juicy Overtime and Ocholocknee berries last year that we were all watching and waiting on..

The Ochlocknee 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.

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 ‘Ochlocknee’, 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 Mid June, to early July, 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 Tifblue and Premier for many seasons 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.

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.

Bring the family we need to get some pictures for the 2025 "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.

Please either bring small cash denominations or be prepared to use Zelle for payment if it is still available this year, I have heard it may not still be available as a payment method this year.

If you are new ask me how to pick the ripest berries or watch the videos on the Helpful Hints page.

We have recently been certified by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture as a Registered Nursery and will have more bushes of different varieties that we are growing for our own field available for purchase.

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.