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Even though I used to be a Blueberry Hill Farm customer, I had very little idea of what to expect for my first summer running the farm as its owner. In the months leading up to the opening day I prepared as best I could, but each day I spent at the farm still managed to be full of surprises (mostly the good kind).

I worked harder this past summer than I think I ever have, but I also can’t think of a time in my life that was more rewarding, full of laughter, and made me so completely happy.

So many exchanges and magical moments occurred alongside the blueberries moving out of the field and into customer hands. Blueberry art was made, homemade granola was shared, gorgeous flower arrangements appeared, frogs repeatedly took up residence in the staff bathroom, I broke the irrigation—twice, I gained a Chief Gopher Officer (CGO), I met previous owners of the farm, and I made a deeply enjoyable connection with every single person who came to visit the farm.

Thank you to everyone who came by the farm this summer to by blueberries! Thank you for your patience, your kind words, your bad jokes, your family recipes, and for sharing your memories of the farm. More than anything, thank you for welcoming me as the new caretaker for this beautiful piece of land and a Crescent City tradition. I feel incredibly lucky and eager to put together an even better Summer of 2026. See you then!

I received a delightful delivery today from Bay Studios! A collection of beautifully handmade mugs, each with a unique variation of the Blueberry Hill Farm logo and a gorgeous glaze.

Bay Studios is the headquarters of Mike Selfridge, a master craftsman in ceramics, stained glass, and so much more. His gallery is open to the public and features his own work as well as several other carefully curated local artists. It is a joy to offer these mugs at our farm stand!

If you’re like me, it will be a challenge to figure out which one is your favorite. I finally managed to narrow it down to a single, beautiful mug that looks like it was painted in watercolors. You will see me sipping from it happily when you come visit us.

Blueberry Hill Farm is nestled up against the beautiful and sprawling Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. In the mornings, the surrounding forest and hills are almost always enshrouded in fog, making it feel like the land around me is waking up at about the same slow speed as me.

Forest creatures regularly visit and travel through the farm fields. Red-tailed hawks and other raptors can often be seen flying overhead. As I wash berry buckets at the sink in the barn I can spy on the swallows flying away from and back to the nest they built just under the roof overhang in front of the window. I enjoy sharing the land with all of these creatures, even the elk who are not exactly careful about where they step as they pass through in the night.

Today I had my most surprising encounter when I lifted a sponge from the dish drainer and two little eyes were looking back up at me from the sponge holder. I don’t know how—or why—this little guy made his way into the barn, up onto the sink, and then underneath a sponge when he has miles of coastal woodland to explore instead, but I was looking right into the eyes of a beautiful little Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla).

I have a deep fondness for these frogs, who earn their name by filling the night air with peeps and ribbits at a volume that defies their diminutive size. In this area, if you live anywhere near a creek or a marsh, or any healthy body of fresh water (which most of us do), these frogs are the soundtrack of your daily life.

I needed to move my sponge frog to a more hospitable location than the barn. He was surprisingly still as I lifted the dish drainer and walked out towards the field. I found a spot far enough away from the neighbors curious chickens that he would have a solid chance to find a safe, new outpost without any chicken mishaps. Placed safely back in the grass I had a chance to fully admire his beautiful markings and delicate legs. After walking just a few feet away my eyes could no longer find him and he has hopefully returned to a creek, or a marsh, where he is chorusing with the others.

In this 2nd week of June we have a lot of large and beautiful blueberries on the bushes, but they all seem quite content to continue being a lovely, gentle shade of green for a while more.

There are usually enough ripe blueberries on the bushes to open up Blueberry Hill Farm to the public by 4th of July weekend. But this year, because the berries decided to take a little longer than usual to ripen, we will not be open until the 2nd or 3rd week of July.

Looking forward to announcing our opening date as soon we see some shades of blue on those bushes!