A Beautiful Bounty
A Labor of Love for Blueberries at Thor Farms…
April and May are special months at area farmers markets, at least for fans of local blueberries. They are the few months when the snow chaser, prima donnas, and spring high varieties of southern low bush blueberries come into season at Thor Farms in Hanford, and Wendy Thorbus sets out to share her bounty with enthusiasts.
“I love going to farmers markets because you get to interact with all of the customers,” she says. “Usually they are very excited, especially when we first arrive.” Those in the know have good reason to be excited. Blueberries aren’t the easiest crop to grow. “They are a very time consuming crop,” says Thorbus. “Very labor-intensive. In California they’re a little harder to grow because of the heat. When you’re harvesting blueberries, they don’t all come in at once. And they won’t ripen once off the vine.”
By the time they arrive in their 6-, 12- and 18-oz. cartons at the farmers markets, a labor of love has
occurred to get them there. A single bush may undergo six to eight sweepings during harvest to glean ripe fruit. If lucky, each bush can yield up to five pounds per season. Yields often have to do with the temperature during the growing season. Blueberries need a certain number of chill hours when temperatures are 38 degrees or lower. “You won’t get as good a crop if you don’t get the required chill time,” says Thorbus.
Thor Farms grows on two and a half acres of land in Hanford and its first crop was harvested in 2008. It’s a project Thorbus works around her full-time job as a cardiovascular ultrasound technician throughout the valley, but one that keeps her connected to her agricultural Minnesota roots. She grew up in a grain-growing family and wanted to stay connected to agriculture upon her move to the San Joaquin Valley in 1993.
“We didn’t know anything about farming out here,” she admits. “We just had always liked blueberries, had always been interested in them. There’s a lot of antioxidants in them.” The three varieties Thorbus grows were selected for their taste and ability to cross pollinate and thrive in the San Joaquin Valley. Each has a distinct flavor profile and shape that she can determine by sight.
“To me, each variety tastes different,” she says. She’s particularly fond of the snow chaser, which she says tastes more like a wild blueberry. Prior to the COVID pandemic, she enjoyed helping customers determine their favorites through samples at the markets. “Certain people like ones that taste a little sweeter. People will come back and tell me exactly what they want,” she says. Sometimes she creates mixed packages of blueberries, but most of the time they are packaged by variety.
Thor Farms has developed a following not only at the Vineyard, Visalia and Hanford farmers markets, but are popular at farmers markets in San Francisco and St. Helena. A dedicated crew of friends and family gather around Thorbus to get to all the markets during harvest season. That is after the bees and hummingbirds have done their work helping the blueberry bushes cross pollinate. “We have a lot of hummingbirds and they make the bees look super slow,” Thorbus says with a laugh, noting that she’s counted up to 20 hummingbirds at a time at the bushes.
Fresh blueberries are delicious by the handful, but Thorbus and her customers find a wide range of uses for them, from pies to jams and smoothies. “We use them a lot on our oatmeal and breakfast cereal,” she says, as well as fresh blueberry muffins. She’s also developed a special honey jam using fresh blueberries and orange honey. She enjoys sharing recipes with customers.
Core to the farm’s philosophy is a commitment to not use fungicides or pesticides, which she says matters to her customers, as well. “We’re not certified organic, but we try to go that way as much as possible,” she says.
In a good year, the blueberry season may extend into June, and for that Thorbus and customers are grateful. The few extra weeks of goodness make the short season all the more sweet. It’s a bit of extra time for Thorbus and her crew to mingle with customers. “We care about quality,” she says. “We enjoy going to the markets and meeting people.”
Thor Farms Blueberries
14th and Lacey, Hanford
Find Thor Farms on Facebook, Instagram and at the Vineyard Farmers Market
