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Blueberry farm pickens' go to area food pantries

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A long-time Berry Best Farm customer shows off the berries she contributed to one of the Farm's "Picking for the Pantries" days. (Courtesy photo/Kristin Peterson-Bozak)

LEBANON - Berry Best Farm's annual "Picking for the Pantries" event was taken to a whole new level this year.

"Picking for the Pantries" was started several years ago by Chris and John Bozak, owners of Berry Best Farm, to do two things: provide fresh picked blueberries to local food pantries as well as glean the fields at the end of the picking season. Typically, the event is held one day only on Labor Day, but there were so many blueberries this year that two separate picking days were held. The first day was held in mid-August and the second on Aug. 31.

Customers were offered free blueberries for themselves if they would contribute half of what they picked for donation to area food pantries. Customers tolerated hot, humid weather -and a few yellow jacket bees - and were able to pick the largest-ever combined total amount of 550 pounds of blueberries.
Many more local food pantries were able to receive berries this year from Berry Best Farm due to the high number of pounds donated. York County food pantries and organizations that received the donated berries included: York County Food Pantry (Alfred); St. Stephen's Food Pantry (Waterboro); New Covenant Church Food Pantry (North Berwick); Table of Plenty Food Pantry (serves York, Kittery and Berwick); South Berwick Food Pantry; First Parish Church Congregational Food Pantry (Lebanon); Gerry's Food Pantry (Rochester); and the St. Charles Home (Rochester).
The Bozaks had one of their best seasons ever as far as blueberry production. The weather this summer was perfect for growing blueberries, with many customers commenting on the abundance of fruit there was this year. Rather than see the fruit go to waste unpicked, Chris and John decided to offer the second "Picking for the Pantries" day. Feedback from customers was great: they were happy to be able to help out organizations in their community and also receive their own free berries.
Berry Best Farm is a highbush blueberry and peach farm located on Center Road in Lebanon and has been a working family farm since 1948. They produce 11 different varieties of blueberries (approx. 2,500 bushes) and four varieties of peaches (approx. 100 trees). The farm is open to the public July through August for pick-your-own fruit. Berry Best Farm is a member of the Three Rivers Land Trust (3RLT) preserving the farm for the future as open space, free from development.

For more information about Berry Best Farm go to www.BerryBestFarm.com.

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