Durham – Heavy rains in late spring and early summer have made it a bumper crop of blueberries this year, drawing increased customers to pick-your-own berry farms.

“This year was kind of a crapshoot, not knowing if they were going to come on strong, but then we had all that rain just before budding and the crop came through in a bumper crop,” said Brian Fischer, owner and operator of Firebird Farm in Lee. “Picking has been brisk.”

Strawberry blues

While this year’s strawberry crop was devastated by May’s flooding, blueberries, which unlike strawberries grow from bushes well off the ground, thrived with the added water. The result is throngs of families flocking to pick-your-own berry farms to take advantage of sweet treats.

“As soon as it gets cooler, people come out to pick,” said Brad Towle, who operates Emery Farm in Durham along with his brother, Bill.

Business was brisk this past week as mild weather prompted many families to take a trip berry picking, Towle said. On a good day, people will pick 300 to 400 pounds of blueberries at $1.70 per pound at Emery Farm.

Record year

Towle said this year’s crop of blueberries is one of the best he has seen in 20 years, rivaled only by last year’s strong crop, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has rated New England’s blueberry crop this year as good to excellent.

Towle said he is especially happy with the strong blueberry yield because of the losses he took on strawberries, which produced only a tenth of their normal yield because of the heavy rains.

Fischer, whose Firebird Farm operates on a sort of honor system of $2 per pound, said blueberries have grown in popularity because they can protect against cancer.

Fischer said the weather has even provided for a longer than usual blueberry season.

“It was amazing how fast they ripened this year,” he said.

Blueberry season generally lasts from July to September. For the location of a pick your own berry farm, go to www.nhoutdoors.com/farms.htm