We're already shipping some of our cherries in modified atmosphere packing. MAP is applied in a specially designed bag inside the fruit box. Soil conditions, for one, are exactly the opposite of what horticulturists say blueberries need. The ground is high pH and blueberries like acidity. As for harvest timing, Kuhn said that one option is to install shade cloth over the plants, which should delay harvest until about October.
Gibbons thinks that late-bearing varieties are the way to go, to miss the peak of harvest in Oregon.
The 2001 growers aren't the first to put in blueberries. A few truck farms have produced blueberries for a decade and more, so there's a little crop history. Kuhn said the proposed grower association will become a hub for coordinating commercial-scale horticultural and marketing information. Gibbons conceded that mistakes cannot be ruled out on the learning curve ahead. When you're on the front end and you make mistakes, you can make up for it.