Blueberries highlight diverse farm
(HARTSBURG, Mo.) - As a soil scientist for the University of Missouri, C. L. Scrivner spent his career studying soils and landscapes. Fifteen years after his retirement, he and his wife, Alleen, still enjoy researching new ideas and techniques on their Boone County farm.
C. L. Scrivner, surrounded by U-pick blueberry pickers, shows off a bucket of berries at his Boone County farm. Scrivner and his wife, Alleen, welcome U-pick customers to their farm every June and July. They also grow shiitake mushrooms and Christmas trees interplanted with pecan and walnut. Scrivner won a grant to perfect his method of delivering fertilizer to blueberry bushes through irrigation lines. (Photo by Lori Compas)
"We’re trying to answer this question," Scrivner said. "How do you manage a really hilly farm and make some income and still keep it conservation-oriented?"
Their answer: Work with what you have. Diversify. And keep learning.
Every summer the Scrivners welcome more than 2,000 adults, and about as many children, to their U-pick blueberry farm. They also grow pecan and walnut trees, manage their forest for timber, and raise shiitake mushrooms. They're busy even in December, when U-cut Christmas tree customers visit the farm.
Shiitake mushrooms
Shiitakes, a gourmet delicacy, grow readily in the shade of the one of the farm's forested areas.
"We have a shiitake yard under the trees on a north-facing slope," Scrivner said. "I usually have about 80 white oak logs going."
Scrivner said the logs produce four harvests a year, and he gives most of the mushrooms to family and friends. He does sell them on occasion, and they fetch a good price.
"If I were younger and wanted more income, I would definitely expand the shiitake yard," he said. "You can grow them, and you can sell them. There's a big market."
Interplanted Christmas trees
The Scrivners planted 3000 Christmas trees in 1981. In subsequent years they planted more, adding pecan and walnut trees as they went. "After a while we learned to interplant Christmas trees with other trees," Scrivner said. "Every fifth tree was a walnut or pecan."
This has proved to be a good strategy, because many of the Christmas trees have been cut down, while the nut trees are just coming in to their own.
"The Christmas trees have been a good project, but we're winding that down," he said. "The walnut and pecan trees are about 15 years old, so they're just beginning to produce."
Customer Carole Adams picks from bushes loaded with berries. (Photo by Lori Compas)
Blueberries
Shiitakes and trees are well and good, but to faithful customers, blueberries are the highlight of the Scrivner farm.
“It’s always such a joy coming out here,” said customer Diane La Mar, who, along with her husband, picked 39 pounds of blueberries on the first morning of this year’s season. She said her family eats the berries fresh, and they also freeze them so they can enjoy the harvest all year.
The Scrivners started planting blueberry bushes in 1983, and they saw their first yield in 1986. They now have 1,500 bushes on 1.4 acres.
During the five-week harvest, which usually starts in mid-June, the Scrivners’ U-pick customers can schedule appointments on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The bushes are given time to produce more berries during the week, and then the next Thursday more pickers arrive.
Blueberries are a little more labor-intensive than the Scrivners' other crops, but they're not difficult to grow, he said. "They must be mulched, and we use a variety of mulches," he said. "They must be irrigated, they like acid soil, and they need to be fertilized."
Scrivner has come up with his own fertilization schedule, and he irrigates the bushes at the same time. He won a grant from the Missouri Department of Agriculture (more info) to perfect the schedule and share the results.
"I add fertilizer right through the drip irrigation system," he said. "I like the fertilizer in solution. The plants can sense it immediately."
As the plants put on leaves, berries and canes, their nutritional needs increase, and Scrivner's schedule allows him to time the fertilizer delivery precisely. After harvest, the plants don't need as much fertilizer and Scrivner accordingly reduces the amount.
The Scrivners don't use insecticides on the plants. They notice web worms once in a while, but they cut these out by hand.
"That way I can assure people that there have been no insecticides sprayed on these berries," he said. "That's very important to some people."
Scrivner said that while his career as a scientist has helped him make informed decisions about the farm, planning a successful diversified farm isn't rocket science. He and Alleen give tours to student groups and other interested parties, and they encourage the students to think about what they might want to do on their own farms, and then learn everything they can.
"I tell them, 'Study the literature. Follow instructions. It's not that difficult,'" he said, laughing. "I say, 'If I can do it, so can you.'"