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We
Appreciate Your Business at one of our farm markets or at our You Pick.
Once the leaves drop and the blueberry bushes are
dormant I can spray an organic fungicide called
Lime Sulfur. It is natural lime and natural sulfur
that when mixed together forms a caustic reaction that will take
the paint off my tractor if not washed off. During
dormancy, it affects a host of diseases in a blueberry field that during
the spring would require major applications of
chemicals--some that preclude harvest for as much as
42 days after application--if the farmer follows
the rules, that is.
The method I use is better for our customer and
us. It is the right way to farm. Pictured is me applying $600 worth of spray as
just
the right time of year.
Granddaughter Eden with Grandson Champ announcing the Year of the Blueberry 2012
U-PICK
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Daily--Closed Mondays.
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Pictured: Dan Childs working in the
compost and feeling pretty good. It is a lot easier to bend over when
you have lost from 238 lbs to 216 lbs. Took 2 years and still working on
it but here is my secret...
Blueberry
Smoothie: I have lost 21 true pounds
in 2 years by switching to this for breakfast 6 out of 7 days a week.
The doctor wanted me to take statins but now after two years of this and
really no other changes, my numbers are all in acceptable ranges
without taking statins.
In a blender: Couple of shakes of ground organic
flax, 2 tablespoons local honey, 1/2 scoop of Warrior Blend, 1/4 scoop
Metamucil, 1/3 cup Almond milk, 2 tablespoons probiotic yogurt, 1/2 c.
Childs organic blueberries, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup water with a couple ice
cubes.
Blend well.
12 oz to go mug for me, 8 oz for the wife and 3 ounces over the two dogs
food for vitamins...each day.
Not even hungry at lunch plus lots of energy. Loss of 1/4 lb per month
for several years.
NOTES: frozen bananas are fine, local honey helps allergies--off the
meds, blueberries lowers cholesterol--dropped from needing statins to
safe levels without ever taking statins--just changed to this diet for
breakfast. Good luck!
Sun Warrior Warrior Blend Raw Plant-Based Complete Protein Powder ~
Natural ~ 2.2 lbs Bag
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Blaze running down the manicured fields with big,
sweet, wonderful blueberries.
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Dog Food: On our
recipe link above you will find a superb dog food recipe. If you have
lost a member of your “family” to cancer—look to your yard care
chemicals, the dog food you feed them and of course, heredity.
Blaze here is 6 years old and has only had our dog food. We are hoping
he lives well past 15 years with this special diet. Only time will tell.
When Blaze was a puppy, the best dog foods out there did not meet my
standard once I investigated so we developed our own recipe and posted
it here for all to see and use. |
Manicured rows of red raspberries in the spring become a "catch crop" in the middle
of the season for Japanese Beetles. The beetles prefer the
raspberries to most anything else and so we spray Sevin pesticide
(no harvesting for 7 days after application--which is no problem
since there are no berries on the bushes at the time of application)
on them and kill the beetles before most get to the blueberries.
Once the blossoms start to form for the fall raspberry crop, the
beetles have mostly gone and we stop the spraying because we would
also kill the friendly honey bees pollinating the blossoms. The fall
crop of raspberries then have no direct application of pesticide on
the fruit. Catch Crops--another trick used to keep pesticides out of
the blueberries! We sell organic blueberries, not organic
raspberries.
Mr. Blueberry, Bob Childs,
turns 80 and celebrates with family and friends.
Label from Childs Blueberry Syrup
Snow on the ground and blossoms on the blueberry bushes...this is not a good
thing.
As it was, the blueberry blossoms survived and we had a fair season...
Phermone traps are checked each day at Childs Blueberries. If we note a pest, we
use an organic pesticide to nip it in the bud. The organic spray is
100 times more expensive than a chemical spray but is much safer for our
customers and us.
Elderberries.
Mr. & Mrs. Blueberry with granddaughter, Chelsea
Childs Blueberry Farm in 1994. It is now much bigger.
Childs Blueberries logo
1989--three years before the "California Raisins" there was the "Childs
Blueberries"
Black currants, red currants and Childs Blueberries.
Childs Blueberries
Childs Blueberries
Childs Blueberries
Miscellaneous
Cultivated "Wild" High Bush blueberries. These
berries pictured here in early July are now full ripe and delicious!
Red raspberries.
Black Currants
Red Currants. Watch for Currant Jelly...a real
delight!
The sign says Childs Play but farming is no
picnic! In the distance, one sees the hills of Pennsylvania.
Close up of the berries in the picture above.
And closer yet.
The new bee hives protective fencing. Each of the
panels is electrified and on the ground is metal roofing so if the
bear touches the fence, he/she is well grounded for maximum shock!
We have had the hives destroyed twice in the last five years by
bears that were captured from Allegany State Park and released in
the hills by us. Bears kept destroying our bee hives which are
essential for proper pollination. Penn State College has (hopefully)
perfected a plan for keeping the bees safe from bears using electric
fence panels, metal roofing on the ground and a solar powered
electrical zapper. When the bear approaches the hives, it steps on
the metal roofing and then touches the fence. Because of the
grounding, it gets a "good" zap and leaves the bees alone...at least
in theory. The next time a bear wanders through we will see.
Weymouth is a delicious berry again abandoned by
big farms but we think they are worth the extra trouble. These are
first generation derivatives of the wild varieties used for genetic
experimentation.
Dukes are a fabulous early berry. We took a chance
and got some back in 91 through a trial program before they became
available to most other growers. I liked the name...Duke...reminds
me of John Wayne--big, sweet and lovable!
See you at market or on the farm soon!
Daniel, Carrie, Audrey and Bob Childs
We pruned out a pile of blueberry cuttings the
size of a small house.
The fields have been fertilized, weeded, mowed,
mulched & the irrigation is repaired and ready for service. When we
start at row one, by the time we go up and down each row and finish
up at the last row of the field, we have traveled 2 miles.
The 8' fence kept the deer out this winter. Recall
several years ago herds of deer were eating 6 pounds of blueberry
buds each per night. This is like eating 15-30 pints per deer per
night. It was recommended we shoot them, put dogs out in the field
using underground wire restraints or put this huge fence around the
whole field. We opted for the fence.
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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 |
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