Wild Blueberry Newsletter June 2025 Hello Everyone, Phenology Update This week is peak green fruit, and as long as we continue getting some rain, they should ripen and fill out nicely. Below you will see this week’s phenology table, which is also available online. Date Visited Locations Pin Head Green Fruit Color Change Fruit Blue Fruit […]
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Join UMaine’s Wild Blueberry Team for a series of free summer events on wild blueberry field management. Highlights include sprayer calibration sessions, discussions on pest and pollinator management, and our annual Field Day at Blueberry Hill Research Farm in Jonesboro. Visit our Upcoming Events Page to view the full schedule and register. For questions, contact […]
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The Calderwood Lab has released a new fact sheet, Considerations for Solar on Wild Blueberry Land in Maine, detailing research on the feasibility of dual-use solar installations (or agrivoltaics) over Maine wild blueberry fields. While wild blueberry plants recovered well after solar installation, excessive shading significantly reduced yield, making dual-use solar unprofitable under standard industry […]
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Wild Blueberry Newsletter May 2026 Wild Blueberry Plant Development Bud stage T2 has arrived and some producers have begun spraying for mummy berry. There is a possible infection window approaching on Sunday with the rain forecasted. This is a critical stage to observe in your field because at this stage the bud has opened enough for […]
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Midcoast and Downeast fields All fields likely had an infection period from May 2nd to May 3rd if they had plants that had about 30 to 40% of their flower buds at F2 (crown stage). The rain started in Waldoboro on May 2nd about 9am. In Blue Hill, Ellsworth and Aurora the rain started in […]
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Midcoast With the warmer weather, mummy berry cups have been seen in fields in Waldoboro, West Rockport and Hope. Fields in the midcoast varied from 10 to 40% of the flower buds at F2 (crown stage). If the field had more than 30 to 40% of flower buds at F2, this would have been enough […]
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Plant development Most plants are not ready yet. From the farthest south I have heard from, around Dresden Mills, there are some fields that are close to being ready. The phenology tracker report shows only about 1 to 8% of flower buds at F2 (crown stage and susceptible) which is what I saw in Ellsworth […]
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Wild Blueberry Newsletter April 2026 Wild Blueberry Equipment Google Group This is a new resource in the form of a google group which is just like an email listserv. The goal of this email group is for producers and experts to exchange questions, answers, and trouble shoot the purchasing, running, fixing, and improvement of […]
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Wild Blueberry Newsletter April 2026 Conference Follow-Up At this year’s UMaine Wild Blueberry Conference 110 farmers and agricultural service providers came together to commiserate, celebrate, and plan ahead. We talked about so many good ideas and recent research findings. Presentation recordings can be found here. Updated Factsheets will be available soon. News Center Maine and the Ellsworth American covered the event […]
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Wild Blueberry Newsletter March 2026 Updates Individual Farm – Extension Office Hours Dr. Calderwood has set up Extension Office Hours across the wild blueberry growing regions of Maine this spring for one-on-one free consultations. Sign up for an hour and a half time slot to discuss anything from field management, business planning, how to get […]
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Dr. Calderwood will be present at Extension Offices across the wild blueberry growing regions of Maine this spring for one-on-one free consultations. Sign up for an hour and a half time slot to discuss anything from field management, business planning, how to get started with a new field, expertise on a particular subject, to sharing […]
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We’ve just released a new fact sheet, Weed Mapping Using Your Smartphone, to help wild blueberry growers improve weed management with simple digital tools. In this bulletin, graduate Research Assistant Patrice Sison explains how to use free smartphone mapping apps to record the location and size of weed patches so producers can plan efficient scouting and […]
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2026 Wild Blueberry Spring Conference Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026Snow Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026Conference Time: 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.Location: Moore Community Center, 125 State Street, Ellsworth, Maine 04605Format: In-person with breakout rooms, lunch, etc./Virtual: Available Join us for the 8th Annual Wild Blueberry Spring Conference! There will be coffee and breakfast items in the morning, followed by soups and […]
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