May 15
We’ve been on a brief hiatus, avoiding rain, welcoming a new family member, celebrating birthdays, and generally taking a breather after a fabulous maple syrup season. Here’s our first blog back!
Operation Berry Net: A Whirlwind Tour of the Northeast
You know it’s monsoon season when your blueberries start dreaming of floaties. Gerri has been gently (read: persistently) encouraging Bob to make a trip to New York to pick up some specialized netting for the berry orchard. With the rain pouring and the spotted wing drosophila circling like tiny fruit-loving drones, it seemed like the perfect time for a quick 1,150-mile jaunt. The timing of the trip was less than ideal, as departure was set for the middle of the work week.
For context: last year, we lost about 40% of our crop to birds. Yes, forty. Percent. So this netting isn't just a nice-to-have—it’s a vital part of our bird-proofing, bug-proofing, sanity-saving plan. The netting is designed to keep those spotted wing fruit flies out, and if it stops a few feathered thieves along the way? Even better.
Departure
The crew (Bob and Gerri) rolled out at 3 PM on Wednesday in Grandpa Dale’s truck—by far the cleanest vehicle on the farm and the go-to for top-priority missions, from hauling netting to chauffeuring sheep. Grandpa Dale may not get the extra-long bed in his next truck… The mission: retrieve twelve rolls of 85g netting aka the very stuff that’s supposed to protect our berries from both fruit flies and freeloading birds. Bonus points: it’s farmer-tested and Cornell University–approved which, obviously, made it an easy sell to Bob.
Road Trip Highlights
Despite the length of the haul, the drive was surprisingly beautiful—Eastern New York’s mountains really showed off. Spirits were high, playlists were shuffled, and snacks were… completely forgotten. This would prove to be a major tactical error, but more on that later.
The Berry Patch
Our destination: The Berry Patch, home of Dale-Ila Riggs—the berry netting expert whose YouTube videos we’ve played so often we’re pretty sure the neighbors know her voice. Meeting her in person was like meeting a berry-farming celebrity. She and her husband were incredibly kind and helped us load the rolls onto the truck like pros. We got to tour their orchard and see the netting system up close, which answered a bunch of our lingering questions. (YouTube is great, but real life wins every time.)
Check out Dale-Ila’s accomplishments here: Berry Protection Solutions
Bonus Stop
On the way back, we made a quick pitstop at Dawson Orchards in Enon Valley, Pennsylvania to drop off some of the same netting for them. They graciously gave us a peek at their setup, and it offered even more inspiration for how we might build out our own berry fortress. The Pennsylvania countryside at sunset was a lovely backdrop—and being just over the Ohio border, the homestretch felt blissfully short.
Final Thoughts
We pulled back into the farm at 10:15 PM on Thursday, a little sleep-deprived, somewhat sore, and very snack-deprived. If we learned anything from this journey, it’s that:
Dale-Ila Riggs is a national treasure.
Birds and bugs beware—we're coming for you.
Never, ever skip the snacks.
Stay tuned for the next step in the Blueberry saga, in which we attempt to unroll twelve enormous tubes of netting and sew them together without becoming human kites.
