My brain is all “blue buried” up and there is still more room for information. The past two months has been filled with conversing with different, blueberry farmers. I believe it’s important to compile information from many different points of view. We have two different types of blueberry bushes on our property: Elliot's and Jersey's. Now from the conventional farmer’s point of view they prefer to eat Elliot as a fresh berry and freeze the Jersey's. From an organic farmer's point of view, they feel that the Jersey's are tastier to eat, and to freeze the Elliott's. This summer we can't wait to try both berries and select our preference. 

We are driving at full speed and prepping the farm for what is ahead. It’s been one daunting task finding a company that clears out blueberry bushes and preps the rows for us. We did find one company and had him clear out approximately 10 rows. Most of the rows had tall overgrown grasses in them and a couple of bushes here and there. We were looking for him to do clear out additional rows and he decided to charge us a crazy amount of money seeing that we are from Chicago. Therefore we passed on his services and we are currently researching other options.

We have also been in search for a tractor. It has been very difficult to find information online as to what machinery we need for the farm. We are absolutely clueless in this area and have no experience. After much discussion within our family and with other's who have experience in this area, we have decided to purchase a compact tractor versus a skid steer. Skid steers are much more costly, although they do great things. Although, at this time it is better to invest in a tractor with a couple different attachments, including a loader, a mower and auger, a backhoe and a forklift. We are currently looking at Kabotas or Botcats. We were told that 25 hp would be enough for our farm but we might opt for a higher horsepower with hydrostatic transmission.  I want to me able to operate this machine on my own. 

So our soil samples are in and I was greatly surprised with the results. Currently, we have approximately three sections on our farm. The section closer to the road has a low amount of organic matter in the soil because it has been heavily heavily sprayed in the past. Fortunately, our largest section of Jerseys contains a large amount organic matter and microbes in the soil.  We are working with Dairy Doo in purchasing the right amounts of soil amendments to enhance our soil. 

This past week I had a lovely meeting with Ravinia's farmer market manager. He loved that we are growing organically and promised us a tent for this 2024 farmers market in Highland Park. The farmers market opens to the public at the beginning of June. Their farmer's market is open on Wednesdays from 7am-1pm. We are excited to educate our community regarding organic flowers as well as sell our organic flowers.