Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - [NAFEX] Blueberries in CA

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: NAFEX Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Blueberries in CA
  • Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 07:33:09 -0400

California blueberry industry has gotten started, and is growing:

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-blueberry27-2009may27,0,2427264.story

"As recently as 1997, California grew only 196 acres of blueberries but now it has about 4,500, which are estimated to yield more than 20 million pounds this season. That's still well short of Michigan, the nation's largest producer at 110 million pounds last year. But when California's plantings mature, its production may reach 50 million pounds, exceeding Oregon's, now the third-largest U.S. producer."

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I love blueberries, and like to see more fruit grown. On the other, I fear that breeders and the industry at large will become more CA-centric, and there will be fewer good new varieties for the northeast, and fewer local (or east-coast) berries on the market, and my grocery store will only stock berries shipped in from CA.

Oh well, time will tell. My blueberry bushes are looking very promising this year.

Ginda Fisher
Eastern MA, zone 6








Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page