June is National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month, and consumers will have plenty of Virginia-grown blueberries and blackberries to celebrate.
In Virginia, the picking window for blueberries and blackberries usually lasts from June through August, depending on the varieties grown.
Janet Bowen of Windmill Hill Farms in Nottoway County said her blueberries and blackberries are right on schedule.“Our blueberries are turning out great,” Bowen said. “I think the cool weather has helped the blueberries tremendously, and the blackberries are looking very good too.”
Bowen’s farm grows early-season blueberry varieties like Suziblue, Premier and O’Neal, and those berries were ripe on June 1. The picking window likely will last until the end of July.
The farm’s blackberries will be ready for picking around the end of June and should be ripe through the middle of July.Dwight Boston of Gold Hill Blueberry Farm in Orange County said the summer’s blueberry picking will be “very bountiful” after expe...