The end of all that rain means blueberries, raspberries are great

Jackson Robichaud, 4, picks blueberries with father and little sister at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July7, 2025. Strawberry season has produced a reduced crop, and pick-your-own is over, whereas blueberry season is just getting started. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Elizabeth Robichaud, a 13-month-old from Penacook, inspects a blueberry while her brother, Jackson dumps a load of them into a barrel at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July 7, 2025. This year, the blueberries are particularly plump as the season begins. Luke mentions that blueberries are Elizabeth's favorite food, and she could happily eat only them. In contrast, the strawberry season has seen a reduced crop, and the pick-your-own option has ended, while blueberry season is just starting. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Elizabeth Robichaud, a 13-month-old from Penacook, inspects a container of blueberries while sitting in a backpack carried by her dad, Luke, at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July 7, 2025. This year, the blueberries are particularly plump as the season begins. Luke mentions that blueberries are Elizabeth's favorite food, and she could happily eat only them. In contrast, the strawberry season has seen a reduced crop, and the pick-your-own option has ended, while blueberry season is just starting. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Jackson Robichaud, 4, walks with a blueberry barrel as he starts to go picking at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July7, 2025. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

The rainy spring made for plump blueberries this season at Apple Hill Farm in Concord. Strawberry season has produced a reduced crop, and pick-your-own is over, whereas blueberry season is just getting started. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Jackson Robichaud, 4, inspects the blueberry container as he picks the fruit with his father and little sister at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July7, 2025. Strawberry season has produced a reduced crop, and pick-your-own is over, whereas blueberry season is just getting started. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Elizabeth Robichaud, 13 months, of Penacook is handed a blueberry as she sits in the backpack with her dad, Luke, at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July 7, 2025. Blueberries are plump this year as the season kicks off. Her dad says that blueberries are Elizabeth's favorite food and could eat just them and be happy. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Elizabeth Robichaud, a 13-month-old from Penacook, inspects a blueberry while sitting in a backpack carried by her dad, Luke, at Apple Hill Farm in Concord on Monday, July 7, 2025. This year, the blueberries are particularly plump as the season begins. Luke mentions that blueberries are Elizabeth's favorite food, and she could happily eat only them. In contrast, the strawberry season has seen a reduced crop, and the pick-your-own option has ended, while blueberry season is just starting. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

The strawberry picking at Apple Hill Farm in Concord is done for the season. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Jackson Robichaud, 4, gives a plump blueberry to his father, Luke, at the Apple Hill Farm in Concord. Strawberry season has produced a reduced crop, and pick-your-own is over, whereas blueberry season is just getting started. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

By DAVID BROOKS

Published: 07-07-2025 5:01 PM

Modified: 07-08-2025 8:20 AM

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Bad for strawberries, good for blueberries and raspberries. In a nutshell, that’s the effect of recent weather on New Hampshire’s pick-your-own scene.

“We had half the production we normally have,” said Diane Souther of Apple Hill Farm regarding the strawberry season. The endless rain and gloomy days in April and May — when strawberries are growing fast — were the problem. They caused bloated fruit or more disease, cutting production throughout the Northeast.

But weather turned dry and sunny just in time for the growth of later-blossoming berries, such as blueberries.

“We opened on time and will keep going until we don't have any more pick your own blueberries. But of course, we go from blueberries into raspberries. We have black currants right now, and I'll say another good three weeks on all of those. And then the later blueberries will still be coming in, and then soon, in August, we'll have peaches here at the farm stand,” she said.

No matter how confusing weather has been, Souther knows it has been tougher for other farmers, particularly those harvesting hay. Heavy spring rains made it almost impossible to get the first of two or three hay harvests in New Hampshire. Hay and alfalfa is a significant income source for farmers; the USDA says their production was valued at $12 million in the state last year, nearly twice the total maple syrup sales.

“The poor guy is trying to make hay; It has been impossible doing that, you know,” Souther said. “For us it has been just a little bit difficult.”

David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com

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