This year, we asked our amazing Naturipe team to share their experiences as mothers and to recognize the mothers with whom they work.  Below are six profiles of outstanding women we’d like to pay tribute to this Mother’s Day.  Here are their stories:

Joyce Bocock, Grower Family

Joyce Bocock (pictured on the far right with her 14 grandkids and husband Ed) is the matriarch of a three generation Blueberry Farm in Michigan. Her son, Brian Bocock had this to say:

“The farm started in 1976 with seven acres as a retirement project for Mom & Dad. To this day, it has grown to a 170 acre farm that employs over 175 people during harvest. From the very beginning Mom has poured her heart into delivering blueberries of the highest quality and is always the last one on the grading line controlling the quality our farm provides to Naturipe.  She has never wavered from her original stance on quality no matter what Mother Nature has in store.

My mom enjoys keeping the packing facility alive with energy. She often breaks out into song and has been known to get all 19 packing facility employees to join her in a joyful rendition of ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’ and ‘Amazing Grace!’

To me, she is the embodiment of all things good and wholesome and I could never have accomplished what I have in my life without my mom!

Mom, cheers to you on Mother’s Day!

-Brian Bocock and Family

Pilar Bañados, Research and Development Manager, Hortifrut Chile

Pilar wears many hats!  At Naturipe’s Hortifrut Farm, she works on research and development of greater berry varieties.  She teaches classes in berry production and physiology at the Catholic University of Chile, and to top it all off, she’s the mother of five children!

While Pilar’s work often takes her all over the world, she always makes sure to be home on the weekends to spend time with her family.  When travelling, she stays close to her children by using Skype and WhatsApp. When asked about motherhood, Pilar stated it simply, “being a mother is loving them, taking care of them, guiding them and protecting them.”

This Mother’s day, Naturipe pays tribute to you, Pilar.  Thank you for all that you do!

Jean Mullis, Grower Family, Sandy Bottom Berries, LLP Pearson, GA

Jean is the wife of blueberry grower Greg Mullis, and works as the office manager at their family business.  Though the hours are long, she’s always there for her three children and whatever task comes her way—whether it’s ball games, racing, or caring for horses and cows!

As a member of the Naturipe family, we commend Jean on her strength and ability to keep her grower family strong.  Happy Mother’s Day, Jean!

Inés Cea, Secretary from Virquenco Field, Hortifrut Chile

Inés is the single mother of 4 children and has worked hard to be both a mother and father to them.  Not only has Inés balanced parenting roles at home, she also is a full time member of the Hortifrut team.  When asked about what she wants for her children, Inés stated “I dream about them growing up to be helpful people in society, educated and prepared for anything!”

With a mother like Inés, we’re sure they’re well on their way.  Happy Mother’s Day Inés!

Patricia Goin, MBG Grower, Indiana

Patricia wanted to put a twist on our mother’s day tribute and instead pay tribute to her family, who have helped her learn to move and walk again after she suffered a paralyzing fall in 2011:

“My family’s love and support carried me through.  Life is different for me, but having the love of family, support of friends, and prayers and good wishes from my extended Naturipe and MBG families, I walk with pride.

I’m proud to be a blueberry grower, a wife, daughter, mother, and Grandma.  Even though I have limitations, one of my grandkids said, ‘grandma, you still play good!’”

Happy Mother’s day to you, Patricia.  Thank you for all that you do!

Miriam Troncoso, Purchase Chief, Virquenco field, Hortifrut Chile

Miriam is an inspiration having worked her way up from being a temp worker in one of the fields to being in charge of the purchasing department at Hortifrut!  While this is an incredible story on its own, Miriam did it all as a single mother.

When asked about her life, Miriam says, “sometimes I think I could have done things differently, but when I look at my wonderful daughter, I’m completely satisfied and proud.”

We’re proud to have Miriam as a part of our Naturipe team. This Mother’s Day, we pay tribute to you, Miriam!

Paula Turner, Grower Family, Sandy Bottom Berries, LLP Pearson, GA

Paula shares her husband Floyd Tanner with his blueberry farm, which often takes him away in the middle of the night to deal with weather emergencies or midnight applications for a healthy harvest season.  Not only does she help him support the farm, she is also a mother of 3 amazing daughters and a full-time school teacher to many more children at Nahunta Elementary.

Happy Mother’s Day to you, Paula. We salute you for your hard work supporting your community, and for keeping your grower family strong!

Kathleen Haines Dailey, Dailey Packaging Blueberry Farm, South Haven, MI – Michigan Blueberry Growers

This tribute comes from Kathleen’s husband, blueberry grower Charles Dailey.

“My wife, Kathleen Haines Dailey, has worked for my blueberry farm for the past sixteen years. As our secretary, she has developed the HACCP program for our food safety requirements as well as the daily paperwork in farming. No matter what challenges are thrown at her, she always has a smile on her face!

Back in 1985, Kathleen was hit by a drunk driver while on her way home from a hospital fund raiser. This left her in a wheelchair, but after six months of physical therapy and rehabilitation, she was able to go back to her full-time teaching job of special education inclusion. During this time, she also raised two children who grew up to be successful adults. After thirty-three years of teaching special needs children, she has finally retired and is devoting more time to reading and photography, two of her favorite hobbies.”

Happy Mother’s Day, Kathleen! Wishing you many happy days ahead from all of us at Naturipe!

The post A Tribute to the Mothers at Naturipe Farms appeared first on Naturipe Farms Berries.

Mother Nature is unpredictable as we all know, so when winter approaches it can growers to prepare for the cold weather. A sudden cold front can damage Blueberries if the temperatures reach 28 degrees or lower.  To prevent damage to the crops, our growers use a process called “Frost and Freeze Protection”. The main purpose of this process is to build up a ¼ inch of ice on the Blueberry bush. By building up ice it allows the bush to stay at 32 degrees and prevents the crop from freezing. To learn more, check out the following steps our growers take to insure that their Blueberry crops make it through the winter season.

Frost Protection Steps:

1. The ultimate intent behind using water for Frost & Freeze protection is to build up a 1/4 inch of ice on the bush that creates a protective “blanket”

2. The ice stays at 32 degrees and as such the flower, berries or bush do not freeze. This protects the blueberry crop for the season but also protects the life of the plant from damage

3. The watering process begins when temperatures show signs of approaching 34 degrees.

4. This process can mean the difference of a successful blueberry harvest or no blueberries at all

5. Blueberries are at their most vulnerable when there is actually fruit on the bush. A flower, believe it or not, can stand a colder temperature than the Blueberry itself can

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A great Super Bowl game last night…even greater, the advertisement during the second half of the game for Ram Trucks…featuring excerpts from Paul Harvey’s 1978 speech to the Future Farmers of America Convention.

I felt the meaning of Mr. Harvey’s words still hold true today “So God Made a Farmer” and while his words speak of the traditional row crop/animal Farmer…I see through Mr. Harvey’s words very strong parallels to our Family-Owned Berry Operations.  See Mr. Harvey’s words and see if you agree…

~Bob Hawk, CEO/President – Michigan Blueberry Growers – Naturipe

“And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a Caretaker.” So God Made a Farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.” So God Made a Farmer.

“I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon — and mean it.” So God Made a Farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, ‘Maybe next year.’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain’n from ‘tractor back,’ put in another seventy-two hours.” So God Made a Farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place. So God Made a Farmer.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church.

“Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life ‘doing what dad does.’” So God Made a Farmer.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW COMMERCIAL

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Growing the Naturipe Way – tells the story of who we are: a Family of Farmers. We cultivate with care and are proud to be the brand you choose. CLICK the image above to watch our video.

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The post Merger will bring more South American berries to Naturipe – The Packer appeared first on Naturipe Farms Berries.

We spent the day with a few of our growers in Wisconsin to tour the cranberry harvest. Shown here is a typical harvester used for collecting cranberries from the marsh along with a fleet of Jon boats collecting the raw product.

These tart berries are great for baking and available NOW in stores.

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FUN FACT: Falcons are sometimes used to help protect blueberry fields! Pictured here is Keith from our farm in Salem, Oregon is showing us how falcons naturally keep starling birds out of the crop (rather than using boom canons). In the wild, Peregrine falcons have been clocked diving at over 200 mph! Watch this bird at work here: http://youtu.be/uHOXbCf-DWM

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We visited the Cornelius Farm last week in Manor, Georgia. Pictured here, Jason is inspecting his blackberry crop – look at the berries that are yet to be picked!

The post Blackberries ready for picking! appeared first on Naturipe Farms Berries.

Coming to you from Ivanhoe, NC! We are proud to have the Barnhill family as one of our Naturipe family of growers, whose family has been growing blueberries for over 50 years.

Chris & his father Forris Barnhill are two of the finest growers in North Carolina, they take great pride in everything they do. Their family have been pioneers in forced air pre-cooling in North Carolina and continue to innovate today by constantly looking for the best varieties to deliver to you.

The post Blueberries – North Carolina Style appeared first on Naturipe Farms Berries.

We started picking blackberries this week in Santa Maria, CA.  These berries are showing a lot of promise for another great season of tasty blackberries!

Check out the 12oz packages we started picking yesterday!

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