How To Start a Blueberry Farm Business
Summary
TLDRニック・ビリングス氏は、ミシガン州北部に位置する「Bulldog berries」という名のブルーベリー農園を経営しています。農園は2012年に設立され、商業栽培とU-Pick(自ら摘む)事業を行っています。ビリングス氏は、自宅の土地で育った緑色の親指と、自らのビジネスを持ちたいという気持ちから農業に参入しました。農園は当初、商業栽培に注力していたものの、トラバースシティという観光地に位置していることからU-Pick事業を開始しました。農園では、ブルーベリーだけでなくイチゴやサスカatoonベリーも栽培しており、年間約1万人のお客様が訪れます。農園の拡大や将来の計画についても語りましたが、現在の設備や状況を考慮して、農園を拡大する計画は持っていません。また、農園のロゴは、ビリングス氏の愛犬であるブルドッグのルーニーをモデルに作成されており、彼の人生には大きな影響を与えていると語りました。
Takeaways
- 🌱 创业初期:Nick Billings没有接受过正式的农业教育,但凭借在德克萨斯州Magnolia小镇长大时积累的园艺经验,开始了Bulldog berries蓝莓农场的经营。
- 💼 业务模式:Bulldog berries农场主要进行批发和U-Pick(自摘)业务,同时也销售草莓和萨斯卡通浆果等。
- 📈 土地购置:2012年,Nick通过贷款和州政府的补助在密歇根北部购买了土地,开始了他的农业事业。
- 🚜 初始设备:农场的第一台拖拉机是John Deere e472,这对于超过3到5英亩的农场来说是必需的。
- 🌳 种植挑战:Nick提到了种植过程中的挑战,包括氮素锁定和过度施用硫酸铵导致植物生长受阻。
- 💰 初始投资:蓝莓树苗的成本因大小而异,大约在$2到$4之间,初始投资还包括了建立冷却设施。
- 📊 农场规模:农场有30英亩,虽然在密歇根州的蓝莓农场中规模较小,但已经形成了稳定的业务。
- 🚿 灌溉系统:蓝莓植物需要24小时的灌溉系统,尽管拥有自己的井,但泵和电费是不小的开销。
- 🛒 销售渠道:除了U-Pick业务,农场还向杂货店批发销售,以及通过自己的容器包装销售。
- 📈 增长计划:Nick考虑扩展农场,增加草莓、覆盆子和黑莓等新作物,但目前没有具体的扩张计划。
- 📝 营销策略:通过Google商业资料和正面评价提升了农场的知名度,从而显著增加了访客数量。
- 🐝 合作模式:与Sleeping Bear Farms合作,提供蜜蜂以支持蓝莓授粉,同时在农场商店销售他们的蜂蜜产品。
Q & A
ニック・ビリングスはどのような経歴からブルーベリー農園を始めましたか?
-ニックはテキサス州のマグノリア出身で、幼少期から緑色の親指を持っていた。大学を卒業することなく、ブルーベリー農園を始めた。ミシガン州で農業に進出するようになったのは、彼がミシガン州での経験と、自分のビジネスを持ちたいという願いからです。
ブルドッグ・ベリーズ農園はどのような種類の果樹を栽培していますか?
-ブルドッグ・ベリーズ農園は主にブルーベリーを栽培していますが、イチゴの苗木やサスカatoonベリーも所有しています。
農園の設立にあたり、ニックはどのような資金調達を行いましたか?
-ニックは州ミシガンからローンと助成金を獲得しました。また、父親が以前にマネスティで働いていたことから、トラバースシティの地域に進出しました。
最初の栽培で行ったと思われる誤りは何でしたか?
-最初の栽培では、過剰施肥によって窒素がロックされ、樹勢が3~4年間遅れ、栽培方法に疑問を持つようになりました。
ブルーベリー農園を始めるにあたり、どのような機械が必要ですか?
-ブルーベリー農園を始めるには、ジャイロデアのプランターやジョンディーのディーゼルトラクターなどが必要です。また、フロントエンドローダーを備えたトラクターで運搬や耕作が行えます。
最初のプラントはどのくらいの費用で購入しましたか?
-ニックは当初、各プラントに対して2ドル、あるいはそれ以下で購入しました。
フルマチュリティで1本のブルーベリープラントからどれだけの量が収穫できますか?
-フルマチュリティで1本のブルーベリープラントから8~10ポンドのブルーベリーが収穫されることを期待しています。
農園で使用している冷蔵庫はどれくらいの費用で作られましたか?
-冷蔵庫はサムズから入手した壁と、5,000ドルのコンデンサーユニットを使って作られました。全体的な費用は1万ドル未満です。
農園の従業員数はいくつですか?
-収穫以外の時期はニックと2人の男性が農園を運営しています。収穫時には20人以上のピッカーが働きます。
ブルーベリープラントはどれくらいの頻度で水やりが必要ですか?
-5月以来、ブルーベリープラントは24時間ウォーターサイクルで水やりされています。6つのゾーンがあり、最後のゾーンが水やりを終えた後1時間だけ休憩してから再び最初のゾーンから始まります。
農園ではUPICK、卸売、商業のどれを行いますか?
-農園ではUPICK、卸売、そして商業のパッケージングを行っています。また、ブルーベリーを小売店に12品脱ケースで販売し、卸売も行っています。
農園を拡大する計画はありますか?
-将来の拡大や成長について常に話し合いていますが、まだ確固とした計画はありません。現在はストロベリー、ラズベリー、ブラックベリーを追加する計画があります。
農園の宣伝にどれくらいの予算を割いていますか?
-農園の宣伝には年間2,000ドル以下を割いています。グーグルビジネスプロフィールとレビューを通じて宣伝活動を行い、検索結果の上位に表示されるようになりました。
ブルーベリーの収穫にどれくらいの時間がかかりますか?
-ブルーベリーの収穫は、フルマチュリティに達するまで3~7年かかります。また、ミシガン州の北部に位置するため、冬の被害によってプラントが大きくなることが妨げられています。
農園で使用しているブルーベリーの品種は何ですか?
-農園ではDuke、Blueray、Blue J、Draper、Berkeley、Bonus、Jersey、Northland、Elliotなどの複数の品種が使用されています。
農園で行っている有機栽培の実験はどのようなものですか?
-農園では、有機栽培の実験を行っており、特定のプラントは化学肥料や農薬を一切使用していません。また、手作業で収穫されています。
農園で販売している商品は何ですか?
-農園では、ブルーベリーだけでなく、Sleeping Bear Farmsのハチミツや隣の森で作られたメープルシロップも販売しています。
他の起業家に与えるアドバイスは何ですか?
-事業を始めた際には、何度か失敗しそうな状況に陥ることがあると言われていますが、諦めずに粘り強く取り組むことが大切です。また、農業は天候に左右されやすいため、収穫の時期や収量に変動があることを理解し、それに対応できる柔軟性を持つ必要があります。
Outlines
🌱 ブルーベリー農園の創業物語と運営
ニック・ビリングス氏は、ブルドッグ・ベリーという名のブルーベリー農園を経営しています。農園では、大手から小規模な個人顧客まで幅広い顧客に向けて販売しており、イチゴやサスカトンベリーも取り扱っています。2012年に土地を購入し、農業未経験ながら農園を立ち上げ、州政府からローンと補助金を獲得しました。当初は商業用に栽培を予定していましたが、トラバースシティという観光地での営業を決め、U-Pick事業を開始しました。農園は、ファーストジェネレーションファーマーとしてスタートし、経験を積んで成長を続けています。
💼 農園のビジネスモデルと収益化
ブルドッグ・ベリーは、U-Pick、卸売、小売の3つのビジネスモデルを組み合わせています。U-Pickは50%、卸売と小売は残りの50%を占めています。農園は、トラバースシティの観光地であることと、グーグルビジネスプロフィールとレビューを活用して知名度を上げ、多くの来場者を獲得しています。また、農園は自社の井戸から水を供給しており、給水に関するコストはかかっていませんが、ポンプの電気代は高くなっています。今後の計画として、さくらんぼやイチゴ、ブラックベリーを増やし、農園を拡大する予定です。
🌳 ブルーベリー農園の栽培と収穫
農園では6つの異なるブルーベリーの品种を栽培しており、収穫時期を延ばすために早生から遅生まで扱っています。農園のブルーベリーは、完全に有機栽培で、手作業で収穫されています。農園は、年間約10,000人の来場者を迎えており、年間で約10~15%のブルーベリーが収穫されないままになります。これは、労働力不足や収穫コストの高さによるものです。また、農園ではミカ蜂の飼育も行っており、授粉に役立てています。
🛒 農園の売上とマーケティング
農園の年間売上は、大手顧客による購入や小売、U-Pickによって構成されています。農園は、年間2,000ドル以下でマーケティングに投資し、主にFacebookとGoogleを活用して宣伝を行っています。また、ニック自身が小売店を回り、製品を売り込み、口説き込みを行います。農園は、年間を通じて収穫が行われ、冬場は業務を休止し、所有地の管理や計画にかかわります。
🏆 農園へのアドバイスと未来の展望
ニック・ビリングス氏は、他の起業家に対して、事業がうまくいかなかったり、財政的に困難になったりしても粘り強く続けるようアドバイスしています。農園は、土地を所有しているため、他の事業よりもリスクが少ないと述べています。将来的には、農園を拡大し、りんごの栽培も行う予定であり、AGリゾートに進出することも検討していますが、現在の設備や状況を考えると難しいとのことです。また、ブルドッグ・ベリーの名前とロゴは、ニックが愛用していたブルドッグの犬ロニーから拝借されています。
Mindmap
Keywords
💡ブルーベリー農園
💡ファームの設立
💡ファームの運営
💡U-Pickビジネス
💡卸売と小売
💡農業機械
💡植物の価格
💡収穫量
💡農園の拡大
💡広告とマーケティング
💡農業の課題
Highlights
Nick Billings, the owner of Bulldog Berries, started his blueberry farm without formal education in agriculture but with a passion for growing plants.
The farm, established in 2012, initially focused on wholesale but has since expanded to include a U-Pick operation due to the tourist appeal of Traverse City, Michigan.
Bulldog Berries experienced early challenges, including nitrogen lock from over-fertilization, which initially stunted plant growth.
The farm utilizes a John Deere tractor and planter for planting, emphasizing the importance of equipment in establishing a blueberry farm.
Initial blueberry plants were sourced from a larger downstate Michigan blueberry farm and cost approximately $2 each.
The farm has a U-Pick operation where customers can pick as many blueberries as they like, priced at $3 per pound during the interview period.
Bulldog Berries sells its blueberries in 12-pint cases to grocery stores and also offers wholesale options for larger buyers.
The farm does not freeze its blueberries, focusing solely on the fresh market.
The U-Pick process involves customers picking blueberries at their leisure, with guidance on where the best fruit is available.
Advertising for Bulldog Berries has been primarily low-budget, leveraging Google business profiles and positive reviews to attract customers.
The farm has a small core team, with additional pickers employed seasonally, and Nick Billings himself handles much of the day-to-day operations.
Watering is a significant cost for the farm due to the need for a 24-hour watering cycle, especially in the absence of natural rain.
Bulldog Berries has explored expanding into other fruit varieties like strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries to diversify the business.
The farm has a symbiotic relationship with Sleeping Bear Farms, providing a location for their bees which are crucial for the blueberry pollination.
The farm has a small on-site store where it sells products like honey from Sleeping Bear Farms and maple syrup from a local producer.
Nick Billings expresses that perseverance is key for entrepreneurs, especially in challenging fields like farming.
The name Bulldog Berries and its logo are inspired by Nick Billings' beloved bulldog puppy, Rooney, symbolizing the personal connection to the business.
Transcripts
I have people that buy 100 lb and I have
people that buy 2,000 lb
$55,000 it's not cheap bigger plants can
maybe pull $3 to $50 20 people in a day
to 200 people my name is Nick Billings
the business name is Bulldog berries we
are a wholesale and upic blueberry farm
we also have some strawberry plants and
Saskatoon berries as well we bought the
land in 2012 I did not go to college or
get a degree in a or anything for this
we got started because I I'm from
Houston Texas a little town outside of
Houston called Magnolia grew up on some
acreage and just kind of had a green
thumb growing up and we're looking for
an area to get into Fruit farming one I
wanted to own my own business and have
have an opportunity to be a business
owner and two hopefully something
growing plants of some sort I originally
kind of started researching the idea and
got some loans and grants through the
state of Michigan that's kind of how we
ended up in northern Michigan I was
familiar with the area because my dad
worked at a plant and Manesty when I was
young that's kind of how I knew about
Travers City and one thing led to
another and that's how the land was
purchased we went into this knowing
nothing about farming first generation
farmer and just kind of have learned as
we went can you tell us about your data
day when you first started versus now so
when we first started kind of the idea
was we were going to do commercial we
didn't really have much of a plan to do
a upick business it was in the back of
my mind but I didn't really want to be
in the customer service business to
start to be honest so when we first
started we planted actually this field
right here this is 6 Acres six varieties
planted this field first and that was
right in the beginning first season we
didn't probably do all the necessary
field work if I could have gone back
that I wish we would have and so this
this was our learning curve field as you
see these are high Bush blueberry plants
they're 10 years old now they should be
substantially bigger than this but when
we started we made some mistakes along
the way including nitrogen locking them
with over fertilizing with ammonium
sulfate the first year which kind of
stunned my plants for 3 or 4 years and
made me question what I was doing out
here what type of equipment does a
blueberry farm need to start I wish I
had it here on site but I don't anymore
um there's this planter that we hook on
the three-point connection on the back
of the tractor you fill it with little
young plants um be root blueberry plants
at the time they were 6 to 12 in and one
guy operates the tractor and two guys
sit on the back of the planter and it
digs holes as you go and someone just is
hand putting each plant into the hole
that the planter had made so essentially
it was a it was a John Deere planter
this was our first tractor this is my
baby this uh e472 John Deere these are
both diesel tractors this is not a
narrow tractor but it has a frontend
loader and allows me to do some things
around the farm as far as lifting moving
digging tilling this thing is how we got
the farm started we got this one back
then probably 2013 and it was a probably
right around 45 or $50,000 they are a
necessity to have if you're going to be
anything more than a small 3 to 5 Acre
Farm and obviously it makes lifting
things and such as I'm not a big guy a
lot easier where did you get the initial
plants from we got them from a guy down
state who is a much larger blueberry
farm I have 30 Acres but in the grand
scheme of Michigan blueberry farming
it's quite small those guys down there
have hundreds to thousands of Acres how
much does it cost per plant well you can
get them at different year um and it'll
be like $2 to4 depending on the size of
the plant you get I want to say back
then we got them for $2 or maybe even a
little less a piece in this first field
as we go across the farm we'll see some
other fields where we planted different
varieties at different sizes and stages
I want to say once we got more of the
hang of it but it's 10 years in we still
don't really have the hang of it still
learning how many plants are in this
field this field is going to be 30 600
plants minus give or take from the ones
that uh died how many blueberries can
come off of one plant full maturity we
would like to see 8 to 10 lb per plant
some of a plant like this size here
we're probably getting something like
four to 6 or S lbs off of it some of our
larger plants in the back we probably do
get almost 10 lb of plant it depends on
the variety and stage of the plant these
plants can take 3 to 4 years to get to
where you're first picking them and
probably four to 7 years for to full
maturity as we are so far north in
Michigan we do deal with winter damage
every year which is kind of what has
stopped our plants from getting as large
as some of the bigger better um
blueberry farms downst so these are the
lugs that um the blueberries the guys
picking load the buckets they're picking
into the lugs and they have numbers on
them we have a lot of guys out there
that are picking per pound and so we use
the numbers on the lugs to keep track of
which guy picked how much at the end of
the day so this is the walk-in Coler uh
we keep it around 30 4° 3435 is how we
sell to the grocery stores 12 pint cases
how much does a cooler like this cost we
put this together ourselves so we got
these walls from Sam's when they were
done with them and we put them together
and then we got the condenser unit for
5,000 bucks so we were probably all in
in this cooler for probably less than 10
grand how many employees do you have it
can vary if we're including all the
pickers you know some days we have 20
plus guys out here picking but running
the show on a daily basis when we're not
harvesting it's just me um and two guys
and uh that's it so not very many how
often do the plants have to be watered
these plants it doesn't rain up here
when you want it to rain so since May
these plants are on a 24-hour watering
cycle we have six zones and it goes
through six zones and then as soon as
it's done with the last one it comes
back to the first so they're on it's
watering all day it's 10:50 so right now
the last Zone in the back is getting its
last bit of water and then it'll shut
off for just 1 hour and then recycle
back to here are you paying a lot for
water we have our own well so the water
itself no but the pump and the
electricity to run that pump 24 hours a
day yeah it's it's not cheap do you only
do upic or do you do commercial as well
so I mentioned earlier we never really
had plans for upic but as um the fifth
six year of being out here approached I
realized that being in Traver City a
heavily touristed area it was probably
the right move and when we first started
it was very casual we just kind of like
advertised the best we could low budget
got people out here and eventually now
it's turned into the upic is probably I
guess the bigger side of our business
but as well we do package in our own
pinted containers and sell those in 12
pint cases to grocery stores and we also
sell wholesale so people will buy I have
people that buy 100 lb and I have people
that buy 2,000 lb so we do wholesale
packaging to the store and a upic do you
ever freeze your blueberries no we only
deal in The Fresh Market um as far as
blueberries to reference the bigger
farmers down state again those guys do
it all so they have certain types of
blueberry varieties that they use pretty
much for process only with a machine
Harvester they'll come through machine
Harvest those get those to a process
market and then get some other types and
varieties of berries to a fresh market
which is what you would buy and eat in
the grocery store can you tell us a
little bit about the you pick process so
yeah we have a little just a little
store that we finished out and you come
you get a bucket you come pick as much
as you'd like and this year it's $3 a
pound it varies based on the market for
the price roughly how many people you
pick a year probably 10,000 people what
percent do you think is upic versus
commercial versus wholesale I would say
upic is 50% wholesale and um commercial
probably splits the other 50% what are
your plans for expanding or growing in
the future you know that's something we
talk about and think about all the time
I don't have a solid plan we have this
Blueberry Field here we have two rows at
the end of this Blueberry field of
saskat tunes saskat Tunes used to be
until last year was 20 or 25 Rows 2
Acres of saskat tun and you know I gave
them a chance for a while and though
there is a market for them it was
something that I just never learned to
really make profit on and so after
giving it a good run I pulled out last
year we have two rows left as I
mentioned and now there's an empty field
and I do plan on adding some more
strawberries raspberries and
blackberries that's not going to be the
biggest change or investment so I'm
still always looking for ways to push
the business forward and uh I'm not sure
yet when you pull out the plants do you
sell them I didn't I chopped them down
with a a brush hog scraped them out made
a pile and just work the rest of them
into the field maybe you could have but
the labor to get those 8ot plants out of
the ground one at a time wouldn't have
made sense what do you do for your
advertising when we first started the
upic it was just like real casual as I
mentioned and like we just kind of got
people out here but as we went forward
we worked with a media team here that
helped us get our logo and get our the
initial footing for our business plan of
marketing and then from there you know
what really took off was Google and once
I got my Google business profile and
reviews we all know that y' seem around
my age my era that we base everything
off of Google reviews so once I was able
to get some five stars and my listing
started moving more to the top when you
search in the area that's that's really
what really changed things out here and
we went from doing you know 20 people in
a day to 200 people I honestly didn't
have much belief in it my dad pushed me
to do the upick part of it and I I
thought we were a little bit too much
off the the road to get people here but
people love picking blueberries more
than you would ever say a farm has to be
off the road right yeah but the we have
a big one right right there on the main
Highway called Gallaghers and they're a
great place that's where people are
going to stop first cuz it's off the
main road so we had to work a little
harder and we have a big sign we put up
and I think the sign people kind of know
oh the blueberries are back how much
have you spent on your advertising you
know what I did at really low budget and
I did the Google stuff myself um
everything we've done out here has been
low budget because we we had to watch it
as the blueberry plants matured that to
make sure that we were still finding a
way to make a profit I mean when I was I
was spending less than less than $2,000
and still am less than $2,000 a year on
marketing and I do the rest as myself
the best I can I'm sure I could do it
better Facebook has helped a lot but a
lot of it has been through Facebook and
Google do you do any marketing for your
wholesale and Commercial side I don't um
that was more of a Me Knocking literally
going into grocery stores and telling
these people hey I'm a local blueberry
farmer here's my product are you
interested so that was more of just me
going to the site and trying to get them
to buy from me so no I don't do that um
word of mouth has worked for that
because there's not as I mentioned not
many blueberry farms this far north I am
one of the few up here and I would I am
the largest blueberry farm for at least
uh 50 to 80 mil or maybe more so even
though we're not big it's still the
biggest around so here in the front
field we have six different varieties
this was again our first planting and it
is Duke Blu-ray blue J Draper Berkeley
bonus in the back we have Jersey
Northland Elliot Blu-ray again and blue
crop this is what we call zone two this
variety here is jerseys and as we can
see as we work across the field these
were planted 3 years after the front
field was started and they are much
larger back here why are they larger
they're larger cuz I kind of knew what I
was doing when we did it a little better
these are still green you can find some
blue ones on them but these are a little
bit later variety that probably will be
ready here in about 7 to 10 days what is
the full blueberry season we usually
start harvesting first second week of
July depending on the Year this this
year was quite early I think we picked
our first blueberry on like July 5th or
6th which was actually way early so this
is just one section here we are usually
doing a first picking a second picking
and a third picking which that's how
when you're handpicking that's how you
got to do it right cuz if we don't pick
this first little crop then the one
behind it the berries won't be as big
and plentiful this one as you can see
you can find right now we're probably 3
to 5% blue and we'll probably usually
get on them right when they're about 20
at least 20% blue and that's that's the
toughest Time of the Season because the
guys can't pick enough an hour to get my
price per pound down so my price per
pound when we're handpicking the first
picking is is terrible and then we have
to do it though to keep the fruit good
for the second third picking and uh
these like I mentioned the first picking
were probably 7 to 10 days away before
we get in here and that's how it works
pretty much with all the varieties how
much do you think a plant is worth a
larger plant like this you know so say
we get 10 lb my price probably averages
out to $3 a pound so we probably on
bigger plants can maybe pull $30 to $50
on a season that's a guess again I
haven't really ran the analytics out
here and done too much p&l statements
and stuff we have just I have flown by
the seat of my pants and just tried to
hang on for the ride really if I could
go back I would have done the whole
thing different we when I started I was
like all right we're going to grow
blueberries we're going to sell
blueberries and that was about 201
really 13 once we kind of got going
since then though there's been some
business highly successful businesses
around here that have kind of tapped
more into the Agro tourism you know have
not even just wineries but really have a
liquor license and a kitchen a chef good
local foods and uh that's probably a
little bit more of the path I would have
taken because just doing it the way
we're doing it we're just ultimately
growing and selling blueberries and uh
it's tough as a business owner to to
make a profit when you're depending on
the Northern Michigan weather when
you're at the mercy of rain no rain heat
cold at the wrong time you can never
really predict and any farmer watching
this one will probably think that guy's
not a farmer but two will think yeah you
don't get rich farming is expanding into
a kitchen something that you would think
about doing I mean it yeah I've thought
about it a million times but I don't see
myself going that path simply because
the way we set up the front I would need
to re I have an idea of what I would
have liked to do but it's kind of too
late because the way I place the
buildings and just the foundation of the
business I think it'd be too much
backpedaling so I think as far as this
investment goes I will stay into just
growing blueberries and um advancing the
business possibly getting to some some
apples later so but other than that no I
don't see me really chasing the AGR
tourism at this property maybe maybe
it's something I'd do in the future in a
different location I would eventually
probably get into something different
while keeping this what do you do in the
winter time golf no we uh I'm from Texas
a lot of winners we go to Texas we shut
the business down since we're Fresh
Market so come middle end of October
we're done out here we blow out the
lines get all the water out of all the
pipes do some things for the plants and
we're done I do have a little small gig
me and my wife run but we can do all
that work from home we uh take the
winter off and sometimes go to Texas
sometimes travel sometimes sit here and
freeze so these are our Elliot variety
these are our latest variety out here
they are going to be right last probably
this year I bet we'll start seeing some
blue ones middle of August and they'll
go through the end of August sometimes
they creep into SE September this is one
of our heavier producers out here it's a
tart Berry medium large size Berry
pretty tart and profile but a very good
Berry all the blueberry guys are going
to have an early variety early mid mid
mid late and late that way you stretch
it across the season and you're not
crammed trying to pick them all at once
and you can have the berries as the
market progresses through the season
this is one of our larger I guess
irrigating block so as you can see here
there's a te which allows the pressure
to stay up for the water so water is
going that way and water's going that
way cuz it couldn't have enough pressure
to maintain the whole line these are
these are damn near 1,000 ft rows with
our spacing out here is every 3 ft so I
think that's kind of a generic spacing
when you're doing a blueberry farm 10t
wide rows 10 to 12T wide rows and 3 to
4T spacing and we chose 3T can propagate
your own plants oh yeah yep you you kind
of need a whole setup to do that I mean
I could easily do like a hundred you
know but to do thousands I just don't
have the setup they grow them in like
these I want to say they're like called
hot beds or something I'm not I don't I
I haven't dabbled into that but yes you
can take clippings to make clones or you
can do soft tissue culture I've even
seen myself on YouTube and Tik Tok and
stuff of people you can take a blueberry
itself and Smash It and plant it and
it'll grow a plant that wouldn't be the
most sufficient way but if you're just
doing it at home in the beginning stages
of the farm the Northland was one of the
no was the biggest producer by far and
now some of these other ones have caught
up 30 to 40,000 lb off that field we
probably Harvest similar out here on the
Northlands but these berries a smaller I
want to say softer Berry so even though
their flavor is great they don't have
the shelf life that some of the other
varieties have when people come out for
upic do you tell them where to go we
kind of just tell them where the best
fruit is so we don't we don't make them
go to a certain row and start there um
we just tell them where the right
berries are and we let them go where
they want I think some other places
don't do it that way they have them more
sectioned into whatever wherever they
want them to pick but we've always
struggled getting all the fruit off the
bush out here so we kind of let people
go where they want and I think people
like that now we're going to go over to
the what I refer to as the baby field um
that was our last planting into
2019 I think so this is their fourth
year so they're still small but they we
actually are harvesting them this year
so we'll take a look at that and you'll
see how much smaller they are what
percent of blueberries are not harvested
last year I think we probably left maybe
10 to 15% on the bush just cuz we
haven't found a a way to get them all
off that makes Financial sense at this
point due to expensive labor lack of
Labor and just being a like a small
operation we're in this weird situation
to where we're not like small like 3 to
5 Acres but we're not large like
hundreds of Acres so we have to find
ways to make sure we're profitable and
getting the fruit off and sold in a
timely fashion so this is our bees uh
you know at this point I'm not even sure
how many hives is there um it's probably
around 100 so I work with a local farm
called Sleeping Bear farms and they
Supply the hives they do all of the
Honey work they simply Park their Honeys
here or their honey bees here because
they uh they they thrive in this area on
my land so it's kind of a trade I need
the bees for pollination during
flowering and they have a place to park
their bees and I would let them Park as
many as they want here because obviously
bees on the fruit farm are highly
beneficial uh we're a big big advocate
for bees out here and we do have in the
little farm store we don't do any of the
um processing of the honey or anything
ourselves they come and harvest it and
we sell their products in our store so
that's how the bee situation out here
works these are the same variety that I
was speaking of over there and these are
the baby versions so these plants are 4
years old as you can see we're
harvesting them this year the first
couple years after planting these bushes
we didn't Harvest them we come through
during flower time and we pull all the
flowers off cuz we want the plants to
focus on growing bigger new growth and
not trying to put fruit out these are
two random rows that I kind of have um
when we first planted that field up
there we had a th000 extra plants that I
uh had over ordered and I hadn't had a
field prep for them so I just randomly
put them over here the day of planting
and that is our organic experiment so
these plants are completely organic
there's weeds all over the place but
they do just fine I think right now
there's maybe 10 10 or 15 guys out there
and we handpick everything here so this
is what we're doing all day every day
these guys probably are picking we're
we're on our first pick right now so
it's lighter so they're probably picking
10 10 to 13 lbs an hour yeah there's the
lugs that they that we that's how we
sell our wholesale berries what type of
blueberries are these These are
Northlands again so these guys like I
said this is our first picking so they
probably can get 10 12 lbs an hour but
when we are heavy thick into it you can
pick these guys could probably pick
anywhere from 15 to 20 lb an hour and
that's what we want so this is is the
little farm store this is where people
come to check in for the up pick you
grab a bucket you go pick when you're
done we weigh it we check you out we put
ice cream in here a lot of families come
out here kids love ice cream people love
ice cream it's Hudsonville ice cream we
don't make it ourselves here we talking
about the honey this is the Sleeping
Bear Farms honey your regular honey
bears and then this is raw honey um we
sell some more of their products too
we're currently out of them this is
syrup the syrup I don't know how much we
got my neighbor on film that has the
cattle next to me his name is Jason he's
a guy that I've become great friends
with since becoming uh buying this
property he does all the maple syrup
it's made on over there next to the
blueberries we I think own 16 17 Acres
of woods majority maple trees he does
all of this himself and we have regular
syrup and then we have blueberry maple
syrup all from the blueberries here on
the farm we freeze some at the end of
the season and we Infuse those directly
into the maple syrup no additives
nothing just and it is extremely good
what is one piece of advice for other
entrepreneurs stick with it when you
even when you think it's not going to
work and you're almost broke I guess
that's the biggest one for me is there's
many times of starting a business
especially farming of Doubt was this the
right move is this going to work am I
going to go broke but I have an asset
backed up investment here so I was a
little bit I always knew it would be a
little bit safer than say starting a
restaurant or something to where you can
really just go all the way in the hole
cuz worst come to worst if it wouldn't
have worked I I had to land in an
appreciating area Bulldog berries came
from when I was like 20 21 I got a
bulldog puppy his name was Rooney
through my 20s in young adulthood he was
he is my best friend he is the best dog
um you could ever ask for and this logo
is not just a random Bulldog it is
actually made from an artist completely
Rooney's likeness he was a white bulldog
with one black patch on his eye he's
very popular amongst anyone that knew me
he is a very big part of my life so
that's why we went with bullog berries
and uh that's where the logo comes
from
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