September 11, 2002
Pickers find their thrill on Blueberry Hill
Generations gather 15,000 pounds each year at Old Mission Peninsula fixture
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Pancakes, muffins, pies, cobbler, breads and just large, juicy handfuls.
Blueberries are a perennial American favorite and many people still gather them the old fashioned way every summer: by picking them.
For the do-it-yourselfers, Buchan's Blueberry Hill halfway up the Old Mission Peninsula has been a fixture of picking for decades (as is the autographed photo of Dolly Parton in the farm's office.)
"I've been coming to Buchan's for a lot of years," said Robin Patterson of Traverse City, as she plucked handfuls of berries Saturday afternoon.
Accompanied by her family, husband Pat, and two teenagers, Ashley, 15, and Bradley, 13, the Pattersons were hoping to gather between 30-40 pounds of berries for their efforts. From these will come pies, jams, and fresh blueberries galore, as pounds more find their way into the freezer for winter eating.
"If they like to get in on the spoils, they have to help out in the picking," said Robin, who had to work in the picking session around the family's busy schedule. "I grew up on a farm, this is a fun thing to do."
There were no complaining teenagers among the rows of bushes that day as the two Pattersons picked eagerly, calling out to each other when they found a 'mother lode' of berries.
"This is really fun to do with you family and get out on such a nice day," said Ashley.
Creating family memories and traditions is second nature for Norman and Karen Buchan, who have been offering 'u-pick' berries for 40 years. Some of the bushes are 63 years old, planted by Norman's father Lester in the late 1930s.
This gives many of the bushes their user-friendly height that allows most of the picking to be done while standing up. Beverly LaZar of Traverse City said that she really appreciates this feature.
"It is wonderful here, the tall bushes," said LaZar, picking at Buchan's for the second year. "When I was young, we would pick wild blueberries in Mackinaw City and broke our backs bending over."
Norman Buchan is a fifth generation farmer who can trace his ancestry to pioneers who settled on the peninsula in 1860. After selling out 85 acres of their cherry operation in the late 1980s, the Buchans now have 55 rows of blueberry bushes covering four acres. The farm has a total of 15 acres and also offers apples, peaches, prune plums and nectarines for picking; but the specialty continues to be blueberries.
Blueberry Hill has eight or nine varieties of berries, some old and some new, which ripen at different times during the three-month season that begins in July. The names of the bushes have a romantic cast: Pemberton, Spartan, Blue Ray, Jersey and Patriot. Veteran customers often a preference for which berry they want.
"If people want Blue Ray, they come early," said Karen Buchan. "Some people like old varieties, the little ones that are sweet. Then there's the people who want the tart ones that really make you pucker. Others just walk along eating some until they find what they like."
The Buchans give pickers the option of bringing their own containers or using one of their ten-gallon buckets, which holds 13 pounds. Small, kid-sized buckets hold two pounds. Other amenities they have installed over the year include a portable toilet, an outside sink for washing off blueberry stains and a drinking fountain.
Volume is the key to success in this business. Their ten-year average for blueberry sales is 15,000 pounds a year. In addition, they pick some themselves, especially during a good year when pickers can't keep up with the berries, that they sell at the farmer's market.
"We have families who come though her with 50-60 pounds at a time," said Karen Buchan, who compiles a sheet of recipes to hand out every year, many recommended by customers, such as this year's hit of blueberry lime jam. "Lots of people have been coming for 30 years and they say to me, 'My grandchildren are coming with me now and I came when I was little.'"
"We have a lot of old friends here," she added.