Triple Delight Blueberries

FARMLAND: 15 acres of blueberries and 350 acres of raisin vineyards located in Caruthers, about 200 miles from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

PEOPLE: Mark and Kimberly Sorensen and their daughters, Johannah, Elizabeth, and Olivia, along with 2 part-time and 15 seasonal employees

FARM HISTORY/PHILOSOPHY: Mark is a fourth generation raisin farmer and has been farming the family farm on his own for 20 years. In 1997, Mark and Kimberly decided to diversify their farming business and try something new. They leased five acres from a friend and planted four varieties of blueberries as an experiment. As they were the only farmers in the region planting blueberries, they had to do a lot of research to develop the best local production methods.

SOIL: Very sandy soil built up with mulching. Blueberries require acidic soil and the Sorensens create this environment adding acidic amendments and nitrogen through the drip irrigation system.

WEED CONTROL: Herbicides are applied during the blueberry dormant season. During the growing season, the Sorensens weed by hand.

PEST MANAGEMENT: They have almost no pests and use scare deterrents such as flying metalic tape to protect the crops against birds and have installed owl boxes to control the gopher population.

WATER USE: Blueberries require a lot of water. Water is obtained from on-site wells and drip irrigation is powered by electricity.

ORGANIC CERTIFICATION: None.