Pickers find a thrill in the Cains' blueberry hills
Wisconsin is not known for its blueberry production, which means pickers are in for a sweet surprise when they discover a patch.
Before this month ends, cars will clog the pathways to Cain's Orchard, where grapes and at least two dozen varieties of apples also are grown.
The specific dates and times for fruit picking at the orchard in Hixton will depend upon the growing conditions of the year, but the first picking probably will be Saturday, July 19. This year's crop is healthy, says Diane, who expects six weeks of picking for the public -- but that, like much of farming, is subject to adjustment.
Up to 3,000 people travel from as far as Chicago to pick blueberries on Saturdays. Some arrive hours before the orchard opens with the ringing of a bell at 7 a.m. It's a charming family outing in a pretty and secluded setting, just a couple of miles off of Interstate 94.
"They just run," owner Kevin Cain said, describing how early bird customers react to the bell ringing. Showing up with kids is encouraged, but dogs are not. Early birds get free coffee. Up to 10 tons of berries are harvested per picking day, which tends to be every week (but call first to verify the dates).
"Sure, we're selling blueberries," Cain said, "but we're also selling entertainment."
It takes up to a dozen people to orchestrate car parking. People in wheelchairs are welcome; employees find a place that is flat and level for them to do their picking.
Ice cream buckets are filled with up to nine kinds of highbush berries, and they grow on 20 acres. Some berries may be the size of quarters. Although herbicides aren't used, the crop is not organic because of fertilizer applications.
Hills surround and shelter three sides of their property. "No wind gets in," Cain said, making a microclimate that's a good match for the berries.
Blue Ray, Berkeley and Elliot are varieties of highbush blueberries that can survive in a northern climate. Each looks, tastes and ripens a bit different. The bushes are pruned, in rotation, every six or seven years.
A small gift shop (formerly a shed) stocks jams, salad dressings, syrups and other items that come from Upper Midwest harvests. "If Wal-Mart sells it, we don't," is how Cain put it. "And we try to limit the blatant commercialism, because that's just not our style."
The lineup of six cash registers is evidence of how busy this place gets. A bucket of freshly picked berries averages $8, which is $1.15 per pound. The orchard only sells berries to those that have picked them, so customers can't just swing by for a pre-picked bucket.
The business is about letting customers pick their own product, and it began after Kevin and his wife, Diane, bought what was a weathered, 160-acre farm in the 1970s, shortly after they married. "We were too dumb to know better," Cain said jokingly. Little by little, they transformed the property, cosmetically and with regard to crop content.
"Apples didn't have the production that I wanted on the lower ground, so we planted blueberries," Cain said, giving Diane credit for the transition. He grew up on a dairy farm near La Crosse; she is a registered nurse.
The Cains list both their orchard and residence phone numbers on their Web site. So do they get a lot of oddball calls?
"If we didn't like people," Cain said, sidestepping the question, "we wouldn't do this."
He describes his customers as "easy to deal with," with a sunny disposition, "not 'concrete' people but active people who probably like to hike and bike."
Cain's Orchard is at W13885 Cain Road, Hixton, about 10 miles beyond Black River Falls on I-94. For more, visit www.cainsorchard.com or call 715-963-2052.
For more about where and when to pick your own berries throughout the state, check out the Wisconsin Berry Growers Association picking guide at www.wiberries.org or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to WBGA Brochure, 211 Canal Road, Waterloo, WI 53594.
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Mary Bergin
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Kevin Cain soon will have thousands of people picking blueberries on the farm that he and wife Diane own, near Hixton and off of I-94.
