Gone to Oregon, picking berries with the pros

Editor's note: This is the seventh feature in the monthly series "What it Takes," written by NR-S fourth grader Oakley Brazil who is currently visiting his grandparents on the Oregon coast.

To run a successful blueberry farm, Wally Hazen says it takes a lot of hard work, energy and year-round commitment.

The Hazens got into the blueberry business by accident. They were looking for property for their horses and found a 50 acre parcel of land with 5 acres of blueberries. They purchased this land 18 years ago.

The prior owners sold their blueberries commercially. Wally and his wife decided to open their 5 acres of blueberries and make it into a U-Pick Blueberry Farm for the public. They also sell around 3,500 pounds to the local schools and local lunch programs each year.

There are over 60 varieties of blueberries. Most of them have a tougher skin and are not as sweet. These blueberries hold up best in shipping conditions. The Hazen grow blueberries that are thinner skinned, sweeter and softer and they taste really good.

How do I know this? Grandpa has been taking me to Hazen's Blueberry Farm since 2015 when I was 5 years old. My motto is: One blueberry for the bucket and three or more for my tummy.

Wally's favorite part of his blueberry farm is meeting new people every day during the summer. Seeing and chatting with his old friends that return year after year to pick their blueberries at his U-Pick farm.

Wally and his wife, Wendy, start pruning each winter from December to February. It takes them 300 hours to prune dead wood, cut out cross branches and open each plant for picking blueberries by hand. They also have to work to replace dead plants. Each plant starts to produce in their seventh year and can live to be 60 to 70 years old.

In the springtime, they apply 200 pounds of fertilizer to their 5 acres of blueberry plants and then another application of fertilizer 30 days later.

As soon as the blueberry plants get their flowers, a friend brings in eight bee hives to pollinate their five acres of blueberry plants. Each bee hive has 30-40 thousand bees. Without these hard working bees pollinating each plant, there would be no blueberries to pick. There would be no berries to eat in the field or take home to make delicious blueberry desserts and jams.

Oregon gets plenty of rain, so the Hazens do not have to irrigate until the summer months when everything starts to dry out. At that time, they open up their irrigation system from the river that runs through their property. They irrigate 20-25 hours a week, delivering water at a rate of 400 gallons a minute onto their blueberry fields.

Blueberry season at the Hazen Blueberry Farm starts each year around the first of July. Depending on the weather conditions, quality and quantity of blueberries the season will usually last 4 to 6 weeks. This year we've spent many hours picking berries, with the hope to fill the freezer with the sweet treats.