C h i l d s B l u e b e r r y F a r m--A Mountaintop Perfect for Blueberries!
Childs motto: Under Promise--Over Deliver
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C h i l d s B l u e b e r r y F a r m--A Mountaintop Perfect for Blueberries!
Childs motto: Under Promise--Over Deliver |
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HELLO FROM CHILDS BLUEBERRY FARM My Dad applied the phrase "Childs Play" to our "work" growing up. It is not work if you like doing it...it is Childs Play! That is how I feel about farming. I enjoy growing some really great blueberries and really appreciate the customers who loyally buy them all summer long. The only way to grow blueberries like ours is to micromanage the field and put in long hours of physical labor. When I start at one end of the field and walk down the rows, by the time I get to the end of the last bush in the field, I have walked over 2 miles. Each of those bushes is pruned, weeded, irrigated, fertilized, mulched and picked and I do a great deal of that. We hire pickers who are local high school students, college students, senior citizens (who like a little extra money/company) and also part timers who come to pick berries after they leave regular job. We pay the Social Security matching tax, have workman's compensation and all the other paperwork aspects of running a business. My Aunt Carmen, who is a retired wedding cake baker, makes her blueberry pie from scratch fresh for each market with berries I give her. My daughter in law Jill is making the preserves in our commercial kitchen. My nephews and grandchildren are learning about business getting up at 4:30 a.m. to go to markets with me. My wife Carrie does all the human resource stuff for the ~30+ workers. I manage the farm and market the berries. So here are the reasons for the flavor and sweetness that sets our berries apart: When my parents first bought our land on top of Cooper Hill we noticed there were many wild blueberries growing on the land--a good foreshadowing of how well our cultivated blueberries would do. 1. Childs Blueberry Farm's Unique Soil--Naturally acidic A huge reason our blueberries are so sweet is because our soil is unique. Blueberries grow naturally on hilltops in places where many crops; such as, tomatoes, corn or beans would fail. Years back, we had a group of 8-10 geologists and archeologists out on a field adventure approach us and ask to scout around. They came rushing back hours into their adventure to excitedly tell us that the "glaciers stopped right over there" pointing just down the hill. Childs Hilltop at 2250 feet did not have the soil amalgamated by the glaciers and thus it retained the naturally acidic, unique components and micro-nutrients that are like heaven on earth to blueberry bushes. Twenty miles away in the Allegany State Park "Thunder Rocks" is another mountain top that the glaciers missed. Many farmers in lowlands have tried to force a blueberry field to grow the fruit by chemically adjusting their soil but this is reflected in the flavor of the berry. That is why so many people have said these Childs Blueberries are the sweetest blueberries on Earth. We do our best to do our part as the grower but some of the credit for such great flavor goes to having the right crop planted in the right soil! 2. Sawdust Over the last 25+ years we have put enough hardwood sawdust on each bush to reach the top of a first floor building. As the sawdust composts down, it a. keeps weeds out, b. retains soil moisture and c. adds nutrients that naturally adds acidity to the soil. 3. Pruning Our biggest off season task is properly pruning the field each year but we feel this helps keep the diseases out, berries sweet and berry size up. Each year, we burn a pile of pruning's the size of a barn. Some farmers chip the pruning's and put the chips on their bushes or mulch. That to us is like giving someone a hanky that was used by someone else with a cold. The reason a cane dies back might be old age or it might be a disease that will have to be treated with chemicals. By cutting the canes out and burning them, we are practicing IPM properly. 4. Pick the Field Clean Each season we pick the field pretty much clean and like a clean kitchen, that helps to keep the pests out. Mechanical harvester pick the berries while still bluish red or after they are over ripe and while doing so, bruises the fruit lowering quality but most importantly, 20-45% of the crop falls to the ground. The berries on the ground are breeding grounds for pests, which these big farms combat with massive chemical applications. The only way to for a mechanical harvester to work is for the bush to be 70% ripe but by waiting this long, many of the berries are over ripe and rancid in flavor. God bless local farmers markets which still have hand picked berries like ours! 5. Isolation Our Humphrey, NY fields are isolated from other farms. If we had another (organic included) blueberry farm nearby, their pests would spread to our fields and contaminate it. Isolation is sometimes a blessings. 6. Pollination The better the pollination, the larger and sweeter the berry. That is a fact. Most farms kill many of the bees with their chemicals and that affects their pollination. A world without bees would be very scary. Our friend, Bill Phersdorf--the bee man, provides us with fabulous pollination by providing a plethora of bees for our fields. We also use Penn States electric fence pen design to keep traveling black bears from destroying the hives.
7. Integrated Pest Management--long term, better than Organic! Per Cornell and Rutgers Universities teachings, we us pheromone traps to monitor the field for pests. If we catch one pest in the trap, we spray with a mild pesticide and nip the problem in the bud, sort of like preventative medicine catches an illness early while it is still treatable. If we had not caught that one pest, it would have multiplied into zillions and we would have to spray with major duty pesticides every 8 to 10 days pretty much forever since the gestation period for pests varies from 1 to 3 years. Organic farmers can use suppression sprays like Dipel or Spinosad on the fruit but this only slows the problem until eventually the pests are still in the zillions. That is why ORGANIC is not the end all solution some people think it is. The only proper solution is to micromanage the field and monitor it constantly, year after year, as Cornell and Rutgers recommends. So far for 2011, Childs Blueberries are PEST and PESTICIDE free. Bob & Audrey attended blueberry growing classes around the country back when the blueberry industry was just starting out and from there, learned about Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and became early adopters of this philosophy. It has served our farm and customers well for 25 years. It is hard to believe that 25 years ago, over half our customers at the East Aurora Farmers Market asked, "what are those things" pointing at the blueberries. We gave out samples and recipes. Grocery stores produce sections were dismal and did not carry blueberries when we started. Folks who knew blueberries picked them in the wild, picked at a U-Pick facility or went without. We do use one spray, it is an organic in nature and is just lime and sulfur combined to form a caustic chemical reaction that applied to a dormant plant does a great job of "sterilizing" the wood and ground in the field. After the leaves have fallen and just prior to the first snow, we spray the Lime Sulfur on the field. 8. Proper Fertilization and Micronutrients A laboratory analysis of leaf samples allows us to determine which soil components are out of proportion for perfect blueberry growth and formulate a custom blend fertilizer with ingredients the same as those listed on the back of a vitamin supplement bottle. This year we added "fertigation" so that when we irrigate, we can put trace elements right in the irrigation water and this helps have a healthy blueberry field & crop. We use drip irrigation, which is the most efficient irrigation method and use water from our wildlife pond. 9. Small Operators versus Conglomerate Farming To me, one of the biggest problems with large mass production farms is their inability to micromanage the field and the use of water baths to sort the berries. Berries are picked on huge farms--the kind that uses major chemicals to grown their product because that is the only way to farm on this scale--and sent by semi truck to a processing plant. Berries are run through a water bath so the green berries sink to the bottom. The bath water collects residual pesticides as each berry is dropped in and passes through the water in the bath, which has no effective flushing system. I can't imagine being soaked in a pesticide bath just prior to being dropped into a plastic clamshell can be a good thing and what really gets me is the claim is then made that the berries have been "washed"! 10. Hard Work For quality, small fruit growing there really is no substitute for on your hands and knees, bug swatting, bending, pulling, pushing, repetitious, hot and/or cold hard work. Some farmers have become "tractor jockeys" seldom getting out of the cab--and that is hard work too, but of a different nature. Our field is small enough that it can be micromanaged in a labor intensive way that results in an excellent outcome. All of these factors mentioned above and a few trade secrets or two not mentioned are why we take great pride in providing the best tasting, sweetest blueberries I have yet encountered.
Dan Childs, grower ****************************************************************************
Biography of the farmers, in order--Daniel, Carrie, Bob and Audrey:
Dan Childs, 2010 Dan Childs (47), Tom Childs (19), Bob Childs -Mr. Blueberry, 76.
In this photograph, I am in Downtown Buffalo and sold a 1/4 ton of blueberries in 6 hours. Normally I have 1-2 helpers but this day it was a one man show due to last minute illness. DANIEL CHILDS I began "farming" at age 6 picking wild berries at our farm in Humphrey and selling them door to door in South Buffalo and then again in East Aurora when we relocated there in 1967. I was always selling things from peanut brittle and pizzas to produce and at school, I had a school store of candy and popcorn selling out of my locker. I planted summer squash and developed a route in East Aurora where I delivered the squash weekly by bike to customers and sold the surplus in front of the Loblaw's store or at the old EA railroad station. In the early 70's my mother started taking orders via Pennysaver ads for fresh picked blueberries from the farm. We planted many blueberries in the 70's at the farm in Humphrey and in 1985, Childs Blueberries was formed by my father. In 1987, I had a decision to make at age 27. Management in corporate America, which meant re-locating or put my roots down on the farm, teaching and join the farm business. I decided on teaching and farming and have never regretted it. Mom felt they could use the help on the farm so I started there picking 6 days a week. Teachers may have summers off but it is without pay, I soon learned so this money really came in handy. I was the first to work and the last to leave and these were very lean years as we started the Childs Blueberry Farm business basically from scratch. Our total sales that second year was less than we sell 25 years later in one Saturday market. My third year and the businesses fourth, I was given the East Aurora Farmers Market while Mom and Dad expanded into North Tonawanda Farmers Market off Robinson Street. That meant, for me, picking 5 days a week and marketing 1 day per week. As the business grew, eventually I was marketing Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and managing the rest of the time. Starting at the bottom of a business and working up has advantages in that I am a better boss today because there is nothing on the farm I have not done or would not do. Basically, I apprenticed with Bob Childs, my father, before taking over the head partner position in 2006-20 years later. I have read pretty much every document ever printed on blueberries at least once so I have both a formal education on farming plus the "school of hard knocks" education that life doles out. I teach 5-12 grade business and computers at a rural school in Allegany County--Scio Central School. I have managed the Spirit of Christmas Toys for Tots program for 22 years and advised the Future Business Leaders of America Club. The club has sent CARE packages to active duty soldiers every year since Operation Desert Storm. I was also a finalist in 2003 for New York State Teacher of the Year. Carrie Childs--1997 Carrie Childs, 2010
CARRIE CHILDS Carrie is currently serving her second term as the Humphrey Town Supervisor. She decided to run because our taxes on the farm had increased 22% in two years and were slated to go up another 11% with no end in sight. The towns assessment had dropped to 47% so the state was determining the rate increases. The reason the assessment fell to 47% is that people all complain that their house is assessed for too much--say $50,000 but when they sell it, they get $75,000 and that causes the whole towns assessment to drop in the states eyes. The only way to regain control for the town was a re-assessment, as unpleasant as they are, and Carrie managed that causing the overall tax levy in the town to drop by more than 4%. Carrie has also computerized the town accounting and payroll. She also manages the town website, Humphreytownship.com Carrie grew up in Sanborn, NY and graduated from Niagara Wheatfield, a member of the National Honor Society. She has worked for various companies as an administrative assistant, office manager, and Human Resources generalist. She received certification as a Professional in Human Resources in 2003. Her years of experience in "corporate America" have served Childs Blueberry Farm well in the continuing growth of our family business. When Daniel and Carrie met in 1999, she claimed that she didn't like blueberries, but once she tasted a "Childs Blueberry", she became a blueberry fan. Prior to that all she had tasted, like so many other people, store brand blueberries that lacked flavor and that fresh sweetness folks have become used to getting from Childs. Daniel & Carrie were married September 2, 2000. Since Carrie came on board, sales and production have continued to grow. Daniel and Carrie's hobby is ballroom dancing for which they make much time during the blueberry off season. They have performed in several recitals and as their friend and dance teacher says, are really pros since slipping a two dollar bill into Daniel's pocket after the first show. "See, now that you have been paid, you are a professional!" :) Bob in 2009 at age 78, still working a full day and loving it.
Audrey & Bob Childs, 56 in 1987. The would earn the name Mr. & Mrs. Blueberry from their customers.
BOB CHILDS In 1960, Bob planted his first blueberries in his backyard in S. Buffalo. Audrey and Bob decided to buy land in the Southern Tier and purchased 54 acres where they planted 20 more blueberries. In 1975, on a new parcel of land, Bob and Audrey planted 500 more blueberries and declared he would someday retire and sell blueberries. Audrey was rather skeptical but had faith and indeed, in 1983, Bob did take an early retirement from AT&T. How exciting when they sold 50 pounds of blueberries at the East Aurora Farmers Market in 1985 generating $175 in sales. Most customers knew standard fruits and vegetables but what were these little blue berries? "Can we eat them?" "What do you do with them?" Bob and Audrey printed little recipes for muffins and pie and handed them out at market. They tried to create a "blue" motif for their farmers market stand and dressed in matching clothes. After several years, sales had tripled at East Aurora's Saturday market. In 1988, Bob and Audrey turned the East Aurora market over to son Daniel and moved to new territory--North Tonawanda on Robinson St. off Colvin. This was a hucksters market, where much of the produce was bought and re-sold. Customers who knew the market knew which vendors were really "farmers" and grew what they sold. Bob and Audrey also expanded into the Downtown Buffalo market on Thursday. Bob's vision for direct marketing and growing top quality blueberries became a reality. Interesting that a product like blueberries that was not even sold in grocery stores in 1985, has since become a household fruit. Bob was a bit ahead of his time. In the acclaimed book, Highbush Blueberries the acknowledgements lists many doctors of agriculture and then Bob Childs, grower. He is very proud to be included in that list for his practical, real world knowledge of blueberries and blueberry farming. Bob entered the army at age 17 and served as a radio man in Korea during that war. He was part of the group of soldiers that forged through N. Korea up to the Chosen Reservoir where the Chinese flooded across the Korean border and entered the war forcing American troops to withdraw back to the beaches, ships and S. Korea. For most of my life, the US government denied this ever happened so when I would tell my teachers about this, they would say, "The United States never did that." Essentially, the message was, "Your dad is telling stories" Now all that is declassified and of course, true. Bob was the middle weight Golden Gloves boxing champion. After Korea, he spent two weeks in Japan and then was shipped to Nevada where he donned a radioactivity badge and "invaded" 17 nuclear blasts before his badge indicated he had absorbed enough radioactivity to be discharged. The idea was to blow up a nuclear bomb in the desert either underground or on platforms and then the soldiers tried to navigate to a destination or target using a Geiger counter. It was deemed that nuclear bombs could not be used as tactical weapons as a result of these tests. Bob, at age 79, feels he was lucky because he got to hold the Geiger counter whereas most of the
AUDREY CHILDS
Audrey retired from the East Aurora school system in 1983. She worked as a cafeteria monitor and teachers aide. Audrey test marketed blueberries in the early 70's by sending her kids door to door with berries and also by placing ads in the EA Penny saver for pre-picked berries available by advanced order. Audrey works side by side with Bob at markets and at the farm. She has kept the fields mowed like a lawn for all these years and has never missed a market. Audrey is the one who makes each recipe during the off season handing out the best to customers at market.
Thanks for taking an interest in our family and our farm. Have you checked out our recipes?
All Rights Reserved. Copy, duplication, use in any way forbidden without express permission of Daniel M. Childs. Childs Blueberries ©® 1983, Taste the Difference ©® 2004, Taste the Top Quality Difference ©® 2004, Recipes to Rave About ©® 1986, 100% Everything Nice ©® 1984 , Heaven on Earth ©® 2004, Foremost in Quality ©® 1989, Foremost in Quality Fruit ©® 1989 , Wa Tera Swo©2008 Onondaga for "Land of Happy Dreams", Sweetest Blueberries on the Planet ©2009, Field of Shame ©2010
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men did not and perhaps that is why he has not noticeably suffered from the
17 different nuclear blasts that went off less than 1/2 a mile from his location
or maybe it is all the blueberries he eats and blueberry wine he drinks. Thanks
to the GI bill, Bob was able to be the first of his family to go to college
graduating from Erie Community College with a degree in Electricity. Married
August 7, 1953 to Audrey Thompson, Bob went to work at A T & T. His friends were
making three times that at Bethlehem Steel but Bob felt the phone company had a
better future. Audrey worked as a secretary at the same time. 